Major Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Major - Term Paper Example These punctilious checks and measures that are applied in the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada are underpinned by the roles that the holder of this office discharges. These roles are in turn highly sacrosanct to the dispensation of justice throughout Canada, as shall be seen in the discussion that ensues forthwith. First, it is important to note that the Chief Justice of the SCC sits as the chairperson of the Canadian Judicial Council. The Canadian Judicial Council in turn comprises all of Canada’s chief justices, and their associate chief justices who serve in the superior courts. The Canadian Judicial Council which was established by the Judges Act of Canada coordinates all the issues of discussions that concern the judiciary, organizes and facilitates all the seminars that involve federally appointed judges, sets up and carries out inquiries on public complaints or on requests that have been made by the provincial attorney general, or the fede ral Minister of Justice. Normally, these complaints and requests concern the conduct of a federally appointed judge. By extension, the foregoing means that the Chief Justice of the SCC initiates the roles of the Canadian Judicial Council and delegates those roles to those functioning below his office. This means that the Chief Justice is the officer who oversees all the functions immediately above (organizing the seminars for the federally judges, coordinating all issues of discussions that concern the judiciary and making inquiries on complaints lodged by the public, the provincial attorney general or the federal Minister of Justice). In almost the same wavelength, the Chief Justice presides over and guides all the sittings of the Supreme Court. The only exception to this provision is the Chief Justice’s absence. In the event of this absence, the Deputy Chief Justice will chair the sitting of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice is the same office that has to choose the pane ls of Justices who preside over all the Supreme Court of Canada cases. According to Dodek (2011), the Chief Justice also directs and manages the staff serving in the Supreme Court. This role is of immense magnitude, given that the Supreme Court of Canada has more than 150 employees who are also members of the federal government civil service. At the same time, the import of this development is that matters touching on the welfare of the employees of Canada’s Supreme Courts such as the extension and harmonization of remunerations, workplace safety and standards, efficiency and legal competence among Supreme Court employees and the observation of work and legal ethics are all matters that fall under the Chief Justice’s jurisdiction and responsibility. The case above has a great bearing on the dispensation of justice in Canada. Particularly, matters touching on the harmonization of remunerations, workplace safety and professional standards directly bear on the motivation of the Supreme Court employees, like other members of the federal government civil service. This means that the Chief Justice directly bears on the services and duties which are: giving its views on how a specific law ought to be interpreted and applied by Canada’s entire court system; giving guidance to the lower courts; providing uniformity in the court systems throughout Canada; directing change in interpreting and applying laws; and recommending or even rejecting explicitly the traditional