Sir Lyman Poore Duff (7 January 1865 – 26 April 1955) was the eighth
Chief Justice of Canada
The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court s ...
. He was the longest serving justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Early life and career
Born in
Meaford,
Canada West
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
(now
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) to a
Congregationalist minister, Duff received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
from the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
in 1887. After graduation, he taught at
Barrie Collegiate Institute while studying for the bar.
Duff later took courses at
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...
and was called to the
Ontario Bar
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; f ...
in 1893.
Duff practised as a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
in
Fergus, Ontario
Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this community at the time of the 2016 Census was 20,767, ...
after being called to the bar.
In 1895, Duff moved to
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
and continued his career there. In 1895, he was made a
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
.
In 1903, he took part, as junior counsel for Canada, in the
Alaska Boundary arbitration.
In 1923
Mount Duff (Yakutat), also known as ''Boundary Peak 174'' was named after him.
Judicial and other appointments
In 1904, he was appointed a puisne judge of the
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Supreme may refer to:
Entertainment
* Supreme (character), a comic book superhero
* ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film
* Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer
* "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams
* The Supremes, Motown-e ...
. In 1906 was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. On January 14, 1914, he was appointed to
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...
. Duff was the first and only Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada to be appointed to the Imperial Privy Council. In 1924 he was elected honorary
bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...
of
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, at the recommendation of
Lord Birkenhead.
In 1931, he served as
Administrator of the Government of Canada
The administrator of the Government of Canada () is the title used by the individual performing the duties of Governor General of Canada – the federal viceregal representative – while the office is vacant or its incumbent is otherwise unable ...
between the departure of
Lord Bessborough for England and the arrival of
Lord Tweedsmuir
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
After a brief legal career ...
.
Duff took on the position, as the Chief Justice was unavailable. As Administrator, Duff opened Parliament and read the
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...
on 12 March 1931, becoming the first Canadian-born person to do so.
In 1933, Duff was appointed
Chief Justice of Canada
The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court s ...
, succeeding to
Chief Justice Anglin. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of St. Michael and St. George the following year as a result of Prime Minister
Richard Bennett's temporary suspension of the
Nickle Resolution The Canadian titles debate originated with the presentation to the House of Commons of Canada of the Nickle Resolution in 1917. This resolution marked the earliest attempt to establish a Government of Canada policy requesting the sovereign, in the ...
.
When
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Lord Tweedsmuir died in office on February 11, 1940, Chief Justice Duff became the Administrator of the Government.
He held the office for nearly four months, until
King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
appointed
Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone as Governor General on June 21, 1940.
Duff was the first Canadian to hold the position, even in the interim. A Canadian-born Governor General was not appointed until
Vincent Massey
Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Confederation. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada after ...
in 1952.
Duff also heard more than eighty appeals on the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...
, mostly Canadian appeals; however, he never heard Privy Council appeals from the Supreme Court of Canada while he served on the latter. The last Privy Council appeal heard by Duff was the 1946
Reference Re Persons of Japanese Race.
In 1942, Duff served as the sole member of a
Royal Commission constituted to examine the Liberal government's conduct in relation to the
defence of Hong Kong. The resulting report, which completely exonerated the government, proved to be controversial, and was seen by many as a whitewash.
Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age for judges in 1939, his term of office was extended by three years by special Act of Parliament; in 1943, his term of office was extended for another year by Parliament.
He retired as Chief Justice in 1944.
Impact
Duff employed a conservative form of
statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is often necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and a straightforward meani ...
. In a 1935 Supreme Court judgment, he detailed how judges should interpret statutes:
Duff has been called a "master of trenchant and incisive English," who "wrote his opinions in a style which bears comparison with
Holmes
Holmes may refer to:
Name
* Holmes (surname)
* Holmes (given name)
* Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland
* Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer
Places
In the Uni ...
or
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
." A former assistant of Duff, Kenneth Campbell, argued that Duff was "frequently ranked as the equal of Justices Holmes and
Brandeis Brandeis is a surname. People
*Antonietta Brandeis (1848–1926), Czech-born Italian painter
*Brandeis Marshall, American data scientist
* Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, Austrian artist and Holocaust victim
* Irma Brandeis, American Dante scholar
* Loui ...
of the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
," and
Gerald Le Dain
Gerald Eric Le Dain, (November 27, 1924 – December 18, 2007) was a Canadian lawyer and judge, who sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984 to 1988.
Life and education
Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Eric George Bryant Le Dain and ...
asserted that Duff "is generally considered to have been one of Canada's greatest judges." Other writers have taken a less favourable view, instead arguing that Duff's reputation is largely unearned; his biographer concluded that he was not an original thinker, but essentially a "talent student and exponent of the law rather than a creator of it."
More recent commentary has focused on Duff's
legal formalism
Legal formalism is both a descriptive theory and a normative theory of how judges should decide cases. In its descriptive sense, formalists maintain that judges reach their decisions by applying uncontroversial principles to the facts; formalis ...
and its effect on Canadian federalism.
Bora Laskin
Bora Laskin (October 5, 1912 – March 26, 1984) was a Canadian jurist who served as the 14th chief justice of Canada from 1973 to 1984. Laskin was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court in 1970, and served on the Ontario Court of A ...
attacked Duff's decisions, arguing that Duff used
circular reasoning
Circular may refer to:
* The shape of a circle
* ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega
* Circular letter (disambiguation)
** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement
* Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy
* Circular ...
and hid his policy-laden decisions behind the doctrine of ''
stare decisis''.
[, at 1069-70.] As well, Lionel Schipper noted that, in reviewing Duff's judgments, it was:
References
External links
Supreme Court of Canada biographyLyman Poore Duff fonds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Lyman Poore
Chief justices of Canada
Canadian Anglicans
Lawyers in Ontario
Lawyers in British Columbia
Canadian King's Counsel
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Canadian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
University of Toronto alumni
People from Grey County
Canadian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
1865 births
1955 deaths
Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Osgoode Hall Law School alumni
Canadian scholars of constitutional law