Judges Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. J-1)

Act current to 2013-04-29 and last amended on 2012-12-14. Previous Versions

Judges Act

R.S.C., 1985, c. J-1

An Act respecting judges of federal and provincial courts

SHORT TITLE

Marginal note:Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Judges Act.

  • R.S., c. J-1, s. 1.

INTERPRETATION

Marginal note:Definitions

2. In this Act,

“age of retirement”

« mise à la retraite d’office »

“age of retirement” of a judge means the age, fixed by law, at which the judge ceases to hold office;

“attorney general of the province”

« procureur général de la province »

“attorney general of the province”, except where otherwise defined, means the minister of the Crown of the province who is responsible for judicial affairs;

“common-law partner”

« conjoint de fait »

“common-law partner”, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year;

“Council”

« Conseil »

“Council” means the Canadian Judicial Council established by subsection 59(1);

“county”

« comté »

“county” includes district;

“judge”

« juge »

“judge”includes a chief justice, senior associate chief justice, associate chief justice, supernumerary judge, senior judge and regional senior judge;

“survivor”

« survivant »

“survivor”, in relation to a judge, means a person who was married to the judge at the time of the judge’s death or who establishes that he or she was cohabiting with the judge in a conjugal relationship at the time of the judge’s death and had so cohabited for a period of at least one year.

  • R.S., 1985, c. J-1, s. 2;
  • 1990, c. 17, s. 27;
  • 1992, c. 51, s. 2;
  • 2000, c. 12, s. 159;
  • 2002, c. 8, s. 82(E).
Previous Version

PART I

JUDGES

Eligibility

Marginal note:Eligibility for appointment

3. No person is eligible to be appointed a judge of a superior court in any province unless, in addition to any other requirements prescribed by law, that person

  • (a) is a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of any province; or

  • (b) has, for an aggregate of at least ten years,

    • (i) been a barrister or advocate at the bar of any province, and

    • (ii) after becoming a barrister or advocate at the bar of any province, exercised powers and performed duties and functions of a judicial nature on a full-time basis in respect of a position held pursuant to a law of Canada or a province.

  • R.S., 1985, c. J-1, s. 3;
  • 1992, c. 51, s. 3;
  • 1996, c. 22, s. 2.