MINISTER TOEWS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO JUDICIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES

OTTAWA, November 10, 2006 – The Honourable Vic Toews, Q.C., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced that he is moving forward with changes to the composition and operation of Judicial Advisory Committees (JACs), which are responsible for assessing the qualifications of the lawyers who apply for federal judicial appointments and making recommendations to the Minister.

"These are very positive changes to the JACs," said Minister Toews. "We are broadening the range of input we receive on judicial appointments, and expanding the pool of consultation."

Specifically, the Minister is implementing a change by which a representative of the law enforcement community will sit on each JAC. "The voices of police are critical in our legal system, but they have never been represented in this process. Our government is pleased to involve them," said Minister Toews.

Previously, JACs consisted of representatives of the general public; the judiciary; the Canadian Bar Association; the Law Society in each province or territory; and the provincial or territorial Minister of Justice. These groups will remain represented in the JACs, bringing the total membership of each to eight members.

In addition, the Minister is instituting a pilot project by which a new, five-member JAC will specifically assess candidates wishing to become judges of the Tax Court of Canada. "I have had concerns that especially for the Tax Court of Canada, JACs were coming forward with too few qualified female candidates," said Minister Toews. "This project is designed in p articular as a means to recommend more quality women candidates for this court."

Other changes to the JACs include:

• Moving to a clearer system by which JACs either recommend or do not recommend candidates. Previously, candidates could be "recommended", "highly recommended", or "not recommended". This led to wide inconsistencies between the various JACs in the types of recommendations coming forward; and
• Staggering the terms of JACs, rather than having them all expire and be reconstituted at the same time Canada-wide.

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Ref.:

Mark Quinlan
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
613-992-4621

Media Relations
Department of Justice
613-957-4207