Case information

Constitutional law — Administrative law — Procedural fairness — Degree to which rules of procedural fairness must be applied, and essential components of this fairness, in context of removal of superior court judge — Role and powers of ministers with respect to inquiry of judicial nature and direct interference in process — If reopening process is found to be constitutional, whether there must be framework for it — Conditions for applying principle of estoppel in relation to inquiry of judicial nature — How strictly fundamental rights of Canadians must be complied with in any judicial or quasi judicial proceeding — Whether specific provisions of Judges Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. J 1, dealing with ethics inquiries are consistent with security of tenure requirements.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 2012, the Canadian Judicial Council was asked to review Justice Girouard’s conduct. A majority of the members of the inquiry committee established to look into the matter recommended that he be removed from office. However, the Council refused to make that recommendation to the Minister of Justice Canada.

In 2016, further to a joint request by the Minister of Justice Canada and the Quebec Minister of Justice, a new inquiry committee was established, this time to review Justice Girouard’s conduct during the previous inquiry. That second committee issued a report concluding that Justice Girouard should be removed from office. Following a review by a second panel of the Council, a majority of judges also concluded that Justice Girouard should be removed from office.

Justice Girouard then applied for judicial review of some of the previous procedural steps and decisions. The Federal Court dismissed his application. Among other things, it found that the requirements of procedural fairness had been met. The Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal. It held that the Federal Court had not erred in finding that the Council’s decision to recommend Justice Girouard’s removal was reasonable. It also held that there had been no breach of the principles of procedural fairness.