- Michel Robert, Chief Justice Quebec Court of Appeal and former president of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Posted on 04/28/2005 6:01:53 PM PDT by GMMAC
Top judge says Liberal appointees are clean
NATIONAL POST
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Brian Daly, Canadian Press
MONTREAL -- A top Quebec judge has dismissed claims by a former federal Liberal executive that party-friendly lawyers were rewarded with judicial postings for their work during the 2000 election campaign.
"We're fully independent,'' Michel Robert, chief justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, told The Canadian Press.
"We stop all political activities. We have a system where all appointees are scrutinized by an independent committee of seven people.''
Robert, a former president of the Liberal Party of Canada, said there's nothing wrong with people having political ties as long as they give them up when they become judges.
His comments came after Benoit Corbeil, a former president of the Liberals' Quebec wing, claimed in recent interviews that seven or eight lawyers who volunteered their services in the 2000 campaign were named judges in return.
"Anyone who wanted to be a judge or win mandates needed to have friendly relations with those people,'' said Corbeil, referring to top party officials. He did not mention any names.
Robert, who is the highest federally named judge in Quebec, has come in for some particular criticism for saying earlier this week that sovereigntists should not be federally appointed judges because they must apply the Canadian Constitution.
Some sovereigntists have called on Robert to resign but he has rejected the demand.
The federal government appoints all judges above the provincial-court level.
Nominees include all Superior Court justices, appeals court justices as well as those on the Federal Court and the Tax Court of Canada.
The nomination process includes an arm's-length Canadian Bar Association evaluation committee that reviews every application and cross-checks references.
But critics, including the Canadian Bar Association, have said patronage appointments remain a problem.
In a May 2004 policy paper, association president William Johnson said "this method to selecting judges was too susceptible to political influence,'' and "might not result in the appointment of the most highly qualified candidates.''
Even Robert admits the system needs reforms.
"I think the system should be a little more public than it is now,'' he said.
"(And) we could change the system so there's an interview process.''
He pointed out that Quebec judicial candidates apply for specific positions and fill out a detailed form before submitting to an interview process.
But he says whatever changes are made to the system, a candidate's political history shouldn't be held against them.
"I don't think we can exclude someone who has given their time to a party.''
Robert's political ties to the Liberals go back decades.
He was national Liberal party president from 1986 to 1990, and he was appointed to the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1995 after going though the normal review process.
A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Irwin Cotler refused to comment on the Robert controversy.
But Mylene Dupere said political stripes have no bearing on who sits on the bench.
"He's (Cotler) not looking at what the political affiliation of the people are,'' said said Thursday.
"For his nominations he said he does not care about this.''
© Canadian Press 2005
Porc du Quebec Ping!
This just increases the urgency to throw the bums out!!! How come Quebec gets to choose its judges and no one else??
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