Sydney Savoie

Canada’s Superior System

Canada and the US have a similar process in choosing their judges for the supreme court,

but the few differences in Canada’s process is what makes our system superior. In the US, the

judges that are being appointed don’t have to have any specific requirements before getting this

job. In Canada, possible judges have to have at least 10 years of experience or must have been a

judge of a superior court. In America according to the constitution, supreme court judge doesn’t

even have to have a law degree. That’s a little outrageous in my opinion. We also have a

mandatory retirement age of 75 which I think is nice. This reduces the chances of having older

and arguably senile judges that may not be able to perform the job as effectively. Overall, I

believe our system is more effective. In the US, whoever is president can basically choose

whomever they feel like, no previous experience is required. I wouldn’t want a judge with that

much power not have any prior experience with the law. I’m glad Canada looks a bit deeper into

future candidates and takes these positions more seriously.

References

Kelly, M. (n.d.). What Are the Requirements to Become a Supreme Court Justice? Retrieved

December 01, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-the-requirements-to-

become-a-supreme-court-justice-104780