The McLachlin Court by Numbers
Stephen Bindman
February 2013
HERE COME DA JUDGE
1 The Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C.
Appointed: March 30, 1989
Retirement: September 7, 2018
2 The Honourable Mr. Justice Louis LeBel
Appointed: January 7, 2000
Retirement: November 30, 2014
3 The Honourable Mr. Justice Morris J. Fish
Appointed: August 5, 2003
Retirement: November 16, 2013
4 The Honourable Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella
Appointed: August 30, 2004
Retirement: July 1, 2021
5 The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein
Appointed: March 1, 2006
Retirement: December 25, 2015
6 The Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas Albert Cromwell
Appointed: December 22, 2008
Retirement: May 5, 2027
7 The Honourable Mr. Justice Michael J. Moldaver
Appointed: October 21, 2011
Retirement: December 23, 2022
8 The Honourable Madam Justice Andromache Karakatsanis
Appointed: October 21, 2011
Retirement: October 3, 2030
9 The Honourable Mr. Justice Richard Wagner
Appointed: October 5, 2012
Retirement: April 2, 2032
10 Average age and experience at appointment of justices on the Supreme Court of Canada, 1970-2006
Source: Songer. (2008) The Transformation of the Supreme Court of Canada. University of Toronto Press: Toronto.
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NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
12 Decisions written by Mr. Justice Moldaver and heard on appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada Case name and citation Disposition Involvement of Moldaver J.A. R. v. V. Y., 2011 Appeal Moldaver J.A. wrote SCC 22 Dismissed dissenting reasons of the Court of Appeal Celanese Canada Inc. v. Murray Appeal Allowed Moldaver J.A. wrote the Demolition Corp., 2006 SCC 36, decision of the Court of [2006] 2 S.C.R. 189 Appeal Penetanguishene Mental Health Appeal Allowed Moldaver J.A. wrote the Centre v. Ontario (A.G.), 2004 decision of the Court of SCC 20, [2004] 1 S.C.R. 498 Appeal R. v. Find, 2011 SCC 32, [2001] 1 Appeal Moldaver J.A. wrote S.C.R. 864 Dismissed dissenting reasons of the Court of Appeal Source: Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
13 Decisions written by Madam Justice Karakatsanis and heard on appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada
Case name & citation Status
Breeden v. Black, 2010 ONCA 547 Appeal Heard March 22, 2011: judgment rendered April 18, 2012. Appeal dismissed.
R. v. Cole, 2011 ONCA 218 OVERTURNED October 19,2012. (reasonable expectation of privacy on office computer)
Source: Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
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WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
15
Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
16
Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
17 Source: SCC, Statistics 1999 to 2009
18 Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
19
Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
20 Appeals Heard 1999-2011: Origin
Source: SCC, Statistics 1999 to 2011
21 Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
22
Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
23
• Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
24
• Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
25
Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
26
• WHAT, ME DISAGREE?
27
• Source: SCC, Statistics 2001 to 2011
28 The Quantity and Unanimity of the Supreme Court of Canada
The Court Quantity Unanimity (%) of:
Dickson + ↑ 113 Average + ↑ 70.7 Average (1984-1990) + ↓ 71 84.3 + ↓ 40.7 56.6%
Lamer + ↑ 93 Average + ↑ 57.9 Average (1990-2000) + ↓ 57 71.3 + ↓ 28.9 43.6%
McLachlin + ↑ 77 Average + ↑ 70.1 Average (2000-2008) + ↓ 46 65.4 + ↓ 39.1 60.0%
Source: Marie-Claire Belleau, les décisions unanimes et divisées de la Cour supreme du Canada: une analyse comparative
29 Unanimous and Split Decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada SCC 2000-2008 SCC 1982-2008 McLachlin
All decisions issued and reported Unanimous 54% 60% decisions Divided decisions 46% 40%
Non-unanimous decisions Judges with the 61% 67% majority Judges with the 38% 33% minority Source: Marie-Claire Belleau, les decisions unanimes et divisées de la Cour supreme du Canada: une analyse comparative
30 Decisions Reported from the Supreme Court of Canada, 1982-2010 (December 31 2010)
Judge Unanim Non- Participate With With With the With the ous unanimou d in the the dissent on dissent Decisio s Writing Majorit dissent the result (%) ns Decisions (%) y (%) on the (%) reasons (%) Rothstein 99 24.2 70.7 14.1 13.1 29.3 Binnie 308 27.6 67.9 12.0 17.5 32.1 Abella 143 34.3 64.3 12.6 20.3 35.7 Charron 146 25.3 73.3 11.0 12.3 26.7 Fish 171 35.1 57.9 14.6 25.2 42.1 Deschamps 198 33.3 58.6 13.6 23.7 41.4
LeBel 252 40.9 56.4 17.5 21.4 43.7 McLachlin 641 41.7 56.0 22.6 17.9 43.2 Cromwell 31 19.4 74.2 0.0 19.4 25.8
31 -Degrees of Agreement – Concurrence at the Supreme Court of Canada: The 100 Most Recent Cases (January 2011 - June 30 2012)
Source: Simon Fodden, SLAW.CA
32 -Degrees of Agreement – Concurrence at the Supreme Court of Canada: The 100 Most Recent Cases (January 2011 - June 30 2012)
Source: Simon Fodden, SLAW.CA
33 ON YOUR OWN
34 Percentage of leave applications filed by self represented litigants Year Leave applications filed by Leave applications filed by % filed by self Granted self- s all litigants self represented litigants represented represented litigants applications 200 642 117 18% 0 0 200 621 117 19% 1 1 200 523 106 20% 0 2 200 550 92 17% 2 3 200 568 114 20% 0 4 200 544 103 19% 0 5 200 506 115 23% 0 6 200 602 150 35 Source: Supreme25% Court of Canada 0 7 200 528 128 24% 0 8 200 542 143 26% 0 9 201 488 122 25% 0 0 201 557 157 28% 0 1 Leave applications filed by self represented litigants by case type
Source: Supreme Court of Canada
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