Of over 1,000 complaints filed in 2025, over 900 were dismissed because they were invalid
The Canadian Judicial Council’s Annual Report on the Review of Complaints About Federally Appointed Judges has identified four types of complaints filed against judges which are typically dismissed in the early stages of the complaint process.
Such complaints include those that challenge judges’ decisions and not their conduct, those questioning the exercise of judicial discretion, those making unsubstantiated claims about judges’ bias or discrimination, and those that center on matters beyond the council’s jurisdiction.
A total of 1,399 complaints were filed in 2025; 912 of these were dismissed or closed at the first stage by a screening officer in line with subsection 90(1) of the Judges Act because they were considered frivolous, vexatious, made for an improper purpose, or were an abuse of process; or did not meet the justification in section 80 of the Judges Act; or did not meet the criteria in subsections 5.5, 5.6(1) or 6.7(2) of the Review Procedures (2025). Fifty complaints that made it to the second stage, consideration by review members, were dismissed.
Review panels evaluated and ruled on six matters. Outcomes included issuing a public expression of concern, a public warning, or a public reprimand; a judge being ordered to apologize or to engage in mentoring; and private measures. A judge against whom complaints were filed retired before a review panel released a ruling, taking the matter out of the council’s hands.
Hearing or appeal panels did not evaluate any complaints in 2025; nonetheless, a reduced hearing panel was convened in one case. The matter has carried over into the current year.
As of 2025, Glenn D. Joyal, chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba, chairs the judicial conduct committee. Members include Tracey k. DeWare (chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick), Heather J. Holmes (associate chief justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia), Faye E. McWatt (associate chief justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario), Catherine La Rosa (senior associate chief justice of the Superior Court of Quebec), Kenneth G. Nielsen (associate chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta), Shane I. Perlmutter (associate chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba), J.C. Marc Richard (New Brunswick chief justice), Manon Savard (Quebec chief justice), and Michael J. Wood (Nova Scotia chief justice).
