Lawyer Krystle Gill wrote a great article in Bar Talk (April 2013) about women judges. Here are some interesting statistics:
– In 1912 , the first woman was admitted to be a lawyer in BC.
– In 2009, the first woman was appointed to the Supreme Court as a judge.
– Since 2009, of the 33 judicial appointments, 5 have been women.
– As of February 2013 of the 105 sitting judges, 32 are women (30%).
– The process of selecting judges involves approval by Federal Minister of Justice and the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee (composed of eight men, mostly litigators from large firms).
– For the past 30 years, there are equal numbers of men and women law school graduates.
– This December the CBA (BC) wrote to Rob Nicholson, the current Federal Justice Minister asking him to consider gender balance when making appointments. He replied: “I am proud to say, that on the international stage Canada is looked to as a leader in this regard.”
Sad really.