Clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada

Abstract

This article takes an in-depth look at the law clerks and the role they play at the Supreme Court of Canada. Such an examination both informs prospective clerks on the nature of the position and promotes a better general understanding of how the judicial process operates at this level. The authors begin their analysis by looking at the history of the law clerks at the Supreme Court. Although the functions of the clerks have changed little since their introduction in 1968, the clerkship program has evolved with a changing Supreme Court, contributing to the institutions "coming of age." The authors then shift their attention to examining the present clerkship program. The article first reveals the manner in which the clerks are selected by the Court. Using data collected by a questionnaire sent to clerks of the 1991-93 terms, the authors also attempt to convey, in a general way, some sense of the people who have served at the Court in recent years. Next, the major functions performed by the clerks are described. While the clerks do have a great deal of responsibility, the authors dispel much of the criticism directed at United States Supreme Court clerks by stating that the law clerks at the Supreme Court of Canada do not have an improper degree of authority. The authors conclude that the clerking experience benefits both the clerks themselves and the procedures of the Court. As such, the law clerks are an entrenched and indispensable part of the judicial process at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Repeat Litigators and Agenda Setting on the Supreme Court of Canada

“…Law clerks in Canada are recruited during their senior year in law school to serve the justices. 38 Law clerks in the US Supreme Court typically have clerked for a year or two in the lower courts, where they are likely to see and learn more about lawyers through observation and through the grapevine that winds through the legal system. Aside from knowing, perhaps, the names of those attorneys who attract media attention, the Canadian clerks while in law school are less likely to be aw are of, or pay much attention to, which attorneys were appearing before the Supreme Court.…”

Considering the consequences of increased reliance on judicial assistants: a study on Dutch courts

“…Dutch judicial assistants are remarkably different from the law clerks (and their equivalent) in many common law countries, such as Canada (see Sossin, 1996;McInnes et al, 1994), Australia (see Young, 2007;Leigh, 2000), the UK (Paterson, 2013) and the US, in that they are not assigned to an individual judge. Instead, they all work for different judges as part of a larger team (comparable to staff attorneys or staff lawyers in the US and UK).…”

Administration at the Supreme Court of Canada: Challenges and change in the Charter era

“…Each judge has a judicial assistant, a court attendant, and three law clerks attached to their chambers. The Law Clerk Program, which began in 1968, initially allowed the justices to each hire a single clerk for a one‐year term (McInnes, Bolton, and Derzko 1994: 61). The program was expanded to two clerks per judge in 1983 and to three clerks per judge just a few years later, reforms that reflect the growing complexity of the Court's workload under the Charter.…”