The Manitoba Court of Appeal (french: Cour d'appel du Manitoba) is the
court of appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
in, and the
highest court of, the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Manitoba. It hears
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
,
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
, and
family law cases, as well as appeals from various administrative boards and tribunals.
Seated in
Winnipeg, the Court is headed by the Chief Justice of Manitoba, and is composed of a total of 13 justices. At any given time, there may be one or more additional justices who sit as
supernumerary justices.
The Court hears appeals from the
Provincial Court and the
Manitoba Court of King's Bench, as well as certain
administrative tribunals, including the Residential Tenancies Commission, the Municipal Board, and the Manitoba Labour Board, among others.
Most cases are heard by a panel of three justices.
A single justice presides over matters heard in "chambers", usually interlocutory matters or applications for leave to appeal. Proceedings before the court are governed by the Court of Appeal Rules.
Judges
Pursuant to ''The Court of Appeal Act'', the Court consists of a
Chief Justice and 12 other judges, all of whom are federally-appointed pursuant to the ''Judges Act''.
As a "Superior Court" under section 96 of the federal ''
Constitution Act, 1867'', Court of Appeal judges are appointed by the
Governor-General of Canada (in practical terms, the
Prime Minister of Canada). Appointees must be members of the
Manitoba bar
The Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) is the self-governing regulatory body of the legal profession in Manitoba, Canada. Membership in the LSM is required in order to practice law in the province.
, the LSM had 2072 members with active practising s ...
, but need not have had previous experience as a judge. However, appointees almost always have some experience as a judge, usually on the
Manitoba Court of King's Bench.
Under the ''Judges Act'',
''Judges Act''
/ref> federally-appointed judges (such as those on the Manitoba Court of Appeal) may—after being in judicial office for at least 15 years and whose combined age and number of years of judicial service is not less than 80 or after the age of 70 years and at least 10 years judicial service—elect to give up their regular judicial duties and hold office as a supernumerary judge A supernumerary judge or supernumerary magistrate is a judge who has retired from a full-time position on a court, but continues to work part-time. Generally, when a judge becomes supernumerary a vacancy is created, and the appropriate person or bod ...
.Martin Freedman
Martin H. Freedman, , was appointed a judge of the Manitoba Court of Appeal on July 16, 2002 and retired from the court in 2012. He replaced Madam Justice Bonnie M. Helper, who resigned.
Mr. Justice Freedman received a Bachelor of Laws from the U ...
, Michel Monnin, and Marc Monnin).
Current justices
Past justices
Chief Justice of Manitoba
The Chief Justice of Manitoba heads the Manitoba Court of Appeal. The Chief Justice is responsible for the judicial functions of the court, including direction over sittings of the court and the assignment of judicial duties.
From 1872 to 1906, the Chief Justice was seated in the Court of Queen’s/King's Bench, which held appellate jurisdiction
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
. The appellate jurisdiction was transferred to the Court of Appeal upon its creation in 1906, and thereafter, the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal has been the Chief Justice of Manitoba.
Further reading
* Dale Brawn, "The Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba 1870-1950: A Biographical History" (Toronto: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 2006)
* Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoban Court of Appeal: An Analysis of Twelve Months of Reported Cases" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 31
* Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal 1989" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 334
* Peter McCormick, "A Tale of Two Courts: Appeals from the Manitoba Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, 1970-1990" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 357
* Peter McCormick and Suzanne Maisey, "A Tale of Two Courts II: Appeals from the Manitoba Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, 1906-1990" (1992) 21 Man. L. J. 1
* Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, 1990" (1992) 21 Man. L. J. 24
* Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal 1991" (1993) 22 Man. L. J. 263
* Peter McCormick, "The Manitoba Court of Appeal, 2000-2004: Caseload, Output and Citations" (2005) 31 Man. L. J. 1
* Frederick Read, "Early History of the Manitoba Courts", Manitoba Bar News (1937) Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2
References
External links
Official webpagePublicly accessible court registry systemCourt of Appeal Rules
{{Courts of Canada
Manitoba courts
Canadian appellate courts
1906 establishments in Manitoba
Courts and tribunals established in 1906