Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey is considering changes to the way the province appoints judges and justices of the peace, saying the process is subjective, fraught with delays and leaves too many qualified lawyers out of the running.
In a speech to a legal conference in Toronto on Thursday, Mr. Downey said the advisory committee that screens hundreds of applicants for judicial posts only recommends its top two candidates, from which the attorney-general chooses one to put to cabinet. He said the committee should instead put forward longer lists or maintain a large pool of qualified candidates, as is the case with federal judges.
“Quite frankly, I believe the advisory committee’s review and interview process is too subjective, such that qualified applicants – including perhaps some people in this room – are not even getting called for interviews, let alone recommended for consideration by me and cabinet,” Mr. Downey told a meeting of the Federation of Ontario Law Associations, according to a copy of his remarks.
Mr. Downey’s remarks are raising concerns among some legal experts about judicial independence and potential political interference in the selection process.
An Ontario government source, whose name is being kept confidential by The Globe and Mail because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said no decision on any revisions had been made, although they could be included in a package of other justice-system changes as early as this fall.
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