Judicial compensation commissions

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Overview

The Supreme Court of Canada has imposed a constitutional obligation on provincial governments to use an independent commission process to set the compensation for judicial officers, including Provincial Court judges and Court of Queen’s Bench masters in chambers.

Several pieces of provincial legislation are relevant to the judicial compensation commission process:

Judicature Act
- outlines the commissions’ functions
Provincial Court Judges and Masters in Chambers Compensation Regulation
- sets out judges’ salary and benefits
Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans
- sets out judges’ pension benefits
compensation commission regulation
- used to establish a specific commission
- for example, the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers 2013 Compensation Commission Regulation was used to create the 2013 commission

2013 commission

The 2013 Judicial Compensation Commission reviewed and recommended changes in compensation for:

Provincial Court judges
Court of Queen’s Bench masters in chambers

For both groups, the 2013 commission examined the following for the period between April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2017:

salary rates
design and level of pension benefits
types and kinds of benefits and allowances
any other issues relevant to financial security that the commission agreed to resolve

On July 8, 2015, the Lieutenant Governor in Council approved all the 2013 commission’s recommendations.

2017 commission

The 2017 Judicial Compensation Commission will review and recommend changes for judges and masters for the period between April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2021.

Notice of hearing and submissions request

In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that there is a constitutional obligation on governments to set compensation for judicial officers through an independent, objective and effective commission process.

An independent Judicial Compensation Commission has been established under Alberta’s Judicature Act to review and recommend the appropriate level of compensation for the Provincial Court of Alberta judges and Court of Queen’s Bench masters in chambers, for the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2021.

The Commission will be holding a public hearing starting November 8th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at the Edmonton Law Courts building, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square.

The Commission is inviting written submissions on the appropriate level of compensation for the Provincial Court judges and Court of Queen’s Bench masters for the time period of April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2021.

Electronic submissions

Please send electronic written submissions by October 26, 2018 to:

Ruth Fast
Legal Counsel
Justice and Solicitor General
Email: ruth.fast@gov.ab.ca

Submissions should include your:

name
mailing address
email address
telephone number

Please provide a summary of your comments if they are lengthy. The Commission may permit oral submissions during the public hearing. Please indicate whether you wish to make an oral submission in addition to your written submission. The deadline for written submissions is noon on October 26, 2018.

Please note that the Commission may require a person who has filed written submissions to attend and respond to questions from either counsel for the Government of Alberta or counsel for the Alberta Provincial Judges’ Association, or both, as well as from the Commission.

For further information, and for copies of the written submissions, contact:

Ruth Fast
Alberta Justice and Solicitor General
Phone: 780-644-7696
Email: ruth.fast@gov.ab.ca

To call toll free, first dial 310-0000 and ask to be connected to 780-427-4992.