Appointment of Thomas A. Cromwell to the Supreme Court of Canada

Abstract

The author describes the appointment process that was followed for the appointment of Justice Cromwell to the Supreme Court of Canada. He also describes the recent history of appointments, and in particular the public hearing before a parliamentary committee that was part of the process for the appointment of Justice Rothstein. Although the public hearing was not part of the Cromwell process, it is the policy of the present government — and probably of future governments — to require public hearings for future appointments. The author the refore describes the Rothstein hearing, comments on the criticisms that were made of the hearing, discusses the risks and benefits of holding hearings in future, and concludes that there is public benefit in the continuation of the practice.