University of Manitoba’s Dean of Law appointed to Independent Advisory Board for SCC Judicial Appointments
Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba, has been appointed as a member of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments. The Advisory Board is an independent and non-partisan body responsible for making non-binding, merit-based recommendations to the Prime Minister on Supreme Court of Canada appointments.
The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada shared the news in an announcement on Tuesday, May 16, 2022. In addition to Dr. Jochelson, the Advisory Board consists of eight members including: The Honourable H. Wade MacLauchlan, C.M., O.P.E.I. as Chairperson, a former lawyer, renowned legal scholar, and the 32nd Premier of Prince Edward Island; Paulet Senior, President and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation; Konrad Sioui, former Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation; Charlene Theodore, Chief Inclusion Officer at the law firm of McCarthy Tétrault, Jacqueline Horvat, founding partner of the law firm Spark Law; The Honourable Louise Charron, former Supreme Court of Canada Justice; and David Nahwegahbow, founding partner of the law firm Nahwegahbow Corbiere.
Dr. Jochelson has been the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba since July 1, 2021. Since joining the Faculty in 2016, he has taught courses in Criminal Law and Procedure, Charter Issues in Criminal Law, and Sexual Expression, Conduct and Work in Canada. He previously taught criminal law for 10 years at the University of Winnipeg and worked at a large Canadian law firm. He has authored over 70 publications and has led several significant research projects regarding criminal justice reform. Dr. Jochelson was nominated by the Council of Canadian Law Deans.
Advisory Board members are appointed under the Public Service Employment Act as special advisers to the Prime Minister. The process of using this independent advisory board to select Supreme Court of Canada justices was first used in 2016. According to the Terms of Reference, of the Advisory Board, three members (two of which must not be lawyers) must be nominated by the Minister of Justice, one must be a practicing lawyer nominated by the Canadian Bar Association, one must be a practicing lawyer nominated by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, one must be a practicing lawyer nominated by the Indigenous Bar Association, one a retired superior court judge nominated by the Canadian Judicial Council, and one a legal scholar nominated by the Council of Canadian Law Deans.