Pubdate: Wed, 08 Nov 2006
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2006 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Paul Samyn

POLICE GET SAY IN JUDGE SELECTION

Law-And-Order Representatives Will Sit On Judicial Advisory Committees

OTTAWA -- Canada's cops are about to get a say over who can be a 
federal judge under changes Justice Minister Vic Toews is set to unveil soon.

The latest part of the Tories' law-and-order agenda will see police 
representatives added to the judicial advisory committees operating 
in each province that assess the qualifications of potential judges.

But given the way Toews has previously railed against activist judges 
with Liberal ties, his plan to reform the system is also raising 
suspicions his real goal is to make it easier to put a Tory stamp on 
the country's judiciary.

"The law-enforcement community is a very important aspect of the 
justice system and to date they have been under-represented in that 
process," Toews said Tuesday in an interview.

Toews said he hopes to soon have law-and-order representatives 
serving on the committees now dominated by lawyers.

"We are getting all the names in place so that this can commence 
fairly quickly."

Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville, who has been a frequent critic of 
Toews, said she suspects the changes are part of his desire to stack 
the courts with judges who share his political views.

"He is doing through the back door what he can't do through the front 
door," the Winnipeg South Centre MP said. "It is part of loading the 
committee to meet his agenda."

Said a senior member of the country's legal community who did not 
want to be named: "The whole thing is ridiculous."

Fuelling concerns over Toews's motives is the fact he sparked 
controversy while Manitoba's justice minister in 1998 by rejecting a 
slate of judicial candidates that a similar provincial review 
committee had submitted. His demand that names be put forward for 
consideration as provincial judges led to allegations Toews was 
politically interfering in the committee's work. The other major 
change Toews is making will move to a simple pass/fail rating of 
lawyers interested in a judicial appointment.

Currently, the committees have a three-tiered rating system -- 
unacceptable, recommended or highly recommended.

Toews is simplifying the rating system because of what he said were 
too many inconsistencies and wild fluctuations from one province to 
the next based on the percentage of those highly recommended versus 
those who were only recommended.

"Anyone who is recommended should be suitable for a judge," he said.

The advisory committees are responsible for vetting names from which 
the justice minister can then choose to fill the 1,100 federally 
appointed judges who sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal 
Court, the Tax Court of Canada and the Court Martial Appeal Court as 
well as courts of appeal and superior courts in each province. A 
spokesman for the Canadian Police Association said the issue has been 
raised with Toews but the group representing 54,000 police personnel 
won't comment until the changes are announced.

NDP justice critic Joe Comartin said Toews is moving in a direction 
that was recommended by the justice committee last Parliament to have 
more lay representatives on review committees.

"It is a good thing to broaden the base of the committee," Comartin said.

Comartin said the big test for Toews and the Harper government will 
be ensuring the coming reforms aren't tainted by simply replacing 
Liberals on the committees with Tories.

"What is important is that those appointments not be made on the 
basis of partisanship," Comartin said.

While opposition critic, Toews lobbied for changes to the 
appointments system that he said allowed the Liberals to use 
judgeships as patronage plums.

At one point last year, he denounced the system, saying that "the 
evidence is overwhelmingly clear that politics plays a significant 
consideration."

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Judging By Facts...

What do the review committees do?

THE independent judicial advisory committees are described as being 
at the heart of the appointments process. Any lawyer who aspires to 
be a federal judge needs to get a thumbs-up from the committee in 
their own province in order to get on the list from which the justice 
minister makes their appointments.

Why should I care?

IN the era of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, judges are 
increasingly important players who often end up making law with their 
rulings. Those who sit on the federal bench also get 232,000 of your 
tax dollars each year.

What are the politics at play?

JUSTICE Minister Vic Toews is no friend of judicial activism. Plus, 
he loves reaching out to police as part of his law-and-order agenda. 
The concern here is that Toews is looking to score political points 
by getting cops on the advisory committees who may then make it 
easier for him to find appointments who will be hang-'em-high judges.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman