Good morning,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have violated their constitutional duty to appoint judges, a Federal Court justice ruled yesterday, adding that the vacancies are at a “crisis” level. The ruling is the first to address a government’s obligations to appoint judges.Justice Henry Brown made it clear he expects Trudeau, Justice Minister Arif Virani and cabinet to “obey the law” and fill the 75 vacancies as soon as possible.In legal terms, Justice Brown broke new ground by finding that the responsibility of a prime minister and cabinet to appoint judges is a constitutional convention, and that the convention imposes legal duties which “may not be ignored.” In political terms, the ruling is a powerful criticism of the government’s failure to fill judicial vacancies, and...
