Law Times

Law Times • sepTember 15, 2014 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com No role for Monahan in brother's appointment to bench: MAG By yaMri taddese Law Times hile the deputy attorney gen- eral's brother was among a number of lawyers who recently joined the Ontario Court of Justice bench, the Ministry of the Attorney Gen- eral says Patrick Monahan had no role in the appointment. Paul Monahan, who had been a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP for 19 years, be- came a judge of the Ontario Court last month. Although the attorney general can consult the deputy attorney general on whom to pick for the job, that didn't happen in Mona- han's case, said Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General. "The deputy attorney general was not involved in this decision," said Crawley. "The normal protocol was followed — when an employee has a personal connection to a government decision, he or she is screened from knowledge of, and participation in, that decision." He added: "The deputy at- torney general may be con- sulted by the attorney general at her discretion. It is open to the attorney general to seek the views of anyone she believes may have relevant information. However, I want to repeat that in this case, the deputy attorney general was not involved. He was screened from knowledge of, and participation in, this decision." Ontario has an indepen- dent judicial appointment pro- cess that ensures the province chooses judges based on merit, the ministry noted, adding it's the judicial appointments advi- sory committee that first selects qualified judicial candidates. "When the chief justice iden- tifies a judicial vacancy, she no- tifies the attorney general," said Crawley. "The attorney general then asks [the committee] to initi- ate recruitment. [The committee] advertises the vacancy, receives applications, selects candidates, conducts interviews, and provides the attorney general with a list of candidates recommended for ap- pointment. The attorney general can only recommend to cabinet candidates that [the committee] has included on its list." Seven lay members, appointed by the attorney general, sit on the judicial appointment committee. The chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice picks two judges for the committee, the Ontario Judicial Council appoints one of its members, and the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario Bar Association, and the County & District Law Presidents' Associa- tion each send a representative. Members of the committee serve a three-year term with the potential for reappointment. Toronto lawyer Bill Trudell has served a term on the committee as a representative of the law society. "It's fair to say from my time that anyone whose name is sent to the attorney general is qualified [to be a judge]. The magic of the committee is that it doesn't allow any outside inf luence," he says, adding it doesn't choose anyone because of who they know. "The minister may want to speak to the deputy about some candidates, but it's not something that's set in stone," he notes. In this case, "I have no doubt that the deputy would have never been consulted and would never have tried to inf luence the process," he added. Dealing with conf lict is part of lawyers' day-to-day life, he adds, noting their training to properly avoid such situations or the ap- pearance of them. Paul Monahan himself has previously sat on the judicial ad- visory committee at the federal level. And in 2005, he appeared before Parliament as the vice chairman of The Advocates' So- ciety's judicial appointment task force. He and others advocated for a short-list system in which only the names of candidates deemed to be excellent by an advisory committee would be given to a minister for appointment. This is in contrast to a system that lets the minister select from good and very good candidates. "You have an advisory com- mittee for Superior Court judges. You have to ask yourself what the point is. Why do we have these advisory committees? Why do we have a short-list system in the Supreme Court of Canada?" Mo- nahan asked at the time. "The answer is that you're trying to, ostensibly, depoliticize the process. But if the process you've set up doesn't depoliticize the process, then you haven't gone far enough. So putting a law dean on the committee, I don't think does it for you. I think the way you depoliticize the process is by moving to a short-list sys- tem, as we've basically almost unanimously recommended." Monahan will preside in Brampton, Ont. His practice areas included torts, breach of contract, banking, securities, employment law, breach of confidence, and professional negligence. He has served as counsel for the discipline committee at the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and as a pro bono lawyer for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Appointed along with Mo- nahan last month were justices Karen Lische, Kevin McHugh, Jill Copeland, and Peter Andras Schreck. LT NEWS LIVE EVENTS DESIGNED FOR CORPORATIONS AND LAW FIRMS Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute is the leading provider of CLE events for the legal industry. Below you'll find upcoming live conferences that might be of interest to you and your team. You can register for yourself and any members of your department. Registration can be applied to anyone in your company – a different person could attend each event. Drafting Clearer Contracts October 9 – Minneapolis, MN October 30– Washington DC November 6 – New York , NY Decmeber 11 – San Francisco, CA $895 Northeast M&A/Private Equity Forum December 3 - Boston, MA $595 DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE Individual Discount – Receive 15% off any individual program. Use promo code 15CORPORATE at checkout. Group Discounts – We have great group discounts available for you and your colleagues. 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