MINISTER OF JUSTICE RESPONDS TO THE 1999 QUADRENNIAL COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

OTTAWA, December 13, 2000     The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable Anne McLellan, today released the Government's response to the recommendations made by the 1999 Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission.

These recommendations follow a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997 that established new constitutional requirements for determining judicial compensation, including the requirement of every Canadian jurisdiction to have "an independent, objective and effective" Commission. The Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission, appointed for a four-year term, is mandated to consider the compensation and benefits of judges and make recommendations to government.

The Government has accepted the Commission's recommendation of a salary increase of 11.2 percent. That amount is significantly  less than the 26.3 percent increase proposed by the judiciary. The Commission's full report can be found at www.quadcom.gc.ca .

The Government did not accept the Commission's recommendation that judicial representational costs resulting from participation in the Commission process be paid by the Government, and will propose that an alternative formula for the payment of such costs be established in the Judges Act . The Government deferred the Commission's recommendation relating to supernumerary judges – generally a judge aged 65 with at least 15 years of service who sits on a part-time basis – until further study and consultation has been done.

"The Commission's report is the first since a new process for determining judicial compensation was established in 1997 to protect  the constitutional principle of judicial independence," said Minister McLellan. "The care with which the Commission undertook its preparations and deliberations is evident. Based on their findings, the Government's response provides an appropriate level of compensation to the judiciary, while recognizing the Government's fiscal responsibility to taxpayers."

The proposed salary increase is based on evidence that was studied to assess the adequacy of judicial salaries, including: the earnings of private sector lawyers; salaries and performance bonuses of the most senior federal Deputy Ministers; and the significance of judicial annuities in attracting outstanding candidates to the bench.

Amendments to the Judges Act will be introduced to implement the Government's response.

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Ref.:

Farah Mohamed
Minister's Office
Department of Justice
(613) 992-4621

Judith Bellis
Senior Counsel
Judicial Affairs Unit
(613) 941-2321