Canada introduces legislation to change complaints process against judges

Canada has introduced legislative amendments to the Judges Act that aim to strengthen the judicial complaints process that was first established 50 years ago. [...] “The current process is cumbersome, costly and can be prolonged for years. It needs to be updated in order to make the system less expensive and time-consuming,” Justice Canada said in its release. The amendments would also impose mandatory sanctions on a judge when a complaint of misconduct is found to be justified but not serious enough to warrant removal from office. These sanctions would include counselling, continuing education and reprimands. New legislation would require that the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), which is responsible for administering the judicial conduct process, include in its annual report the number of complaints received and how they were resolved. [...] The federal government conducted public consultations in 2016 that informed the development of the amendments, said the release.
Read the full article here: Canadian Lawyer