The Ministry of the Attorney General asked the Ontario Bar Association to share this Notice to Justice Participants with its membership. The Ministry has identified and addressed an issue affecting the recent appointment of eleven judges of the Ontario Court of Justice.
Subsection 42(2) of the Courts of Justice Act was amended, effective June 8, 2023, to add a new requirement that no person shall be appointed as a provincial judge unless the person undertakes to participate in such courses as may be designated for newly appointed judges by the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice under subsection 51.10.1(3) of the Act.
While a process is now in place to obtain written undertakings from judicial candidates, no such process was in place prior to the appointment of the eleven judges. The Ministry has now sought and obtained formal written undertakings from these eleven judges and new appointment orders in council were issued, effective November 9, 2023. The Ministry’s position is that the absence of an undertaking does not impact the validity of actions taken by the judges under their initial appointments.
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