CBC/Calgary Herald: Judicial hearings rare: Most complaints about judges never get to public hearing

As CBC  and the Calgary Herald report:

Public hearings that consider whether a judge should be removed from the bench, such as the current one involving Federal Court Justice Robin Camp, are rare.

The Canadian Judicial Council receives more than 150 complaints each year and the vast majority are either dismissed or dealt with behind closed doors.

The question of how to hold judges accountable and maintain faith in the justice system, while also respecting judicial independence, is an ongoing quandary. The process is still evolving 45 years after the council was established.

“We have to really balance a complex set of interests,” says Karen Busby, a law professor at the University of Manitoba.

“Right now, we know little about what happens with the cases where … it’s not in the public interest to have a full public inquiry, but there needs to be some kind of accountability.”