The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia Court of Appeal or NSCA) is the highest

appeal court 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 the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. There are currently 8 judicial seats including one assigned to the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia.NUMBER OF FEDERALLY APPOINTED JUDGES AS OF JULY 1, 2018, www.fja.gc.ca
/ref> At any given time there may be one or more additional justices who sit as supernumerary justices. The court sits in Halifax, which is the capital of Nova Scotia. Cases are heard by a panel of three judges. They publish approximately 80 cases each year.

History

The Court of Appeal was established on 30 January 1993. From 1966 to 1993, appeals pursuant to Supreme Court cases were heard by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and, prior to 1966, by a panel of Supreme Court judges sitting ''en banc''. The Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal is the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. Prior to the establishment of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Justice was the Chief Justice of the Appeal Division (1966–1993) and, before 1966, of the Supreme Court.

Jurisdiction

The court derives its power from legislation of the Nova Scotia legislature, the ''

Judicature Act Judicature Act is a term which was used in the United Kingdom for legislation which related to the Supreme Court of Judicature. List United Kingdom :The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict. c.66) :The Supreme Court of Judicature Ac ...

''. It hears appeals from the

Nova Scotia Supreme Court The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia. The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice. At any given time there may be one or more addit ...

, Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, and various tribunals. Only the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

has jurisdiction to hear appeals from decisions of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal; in practice this happens a few times a year.

Judges

Supernumerary

Past judges

Chief Justice of Nova Scotia

The Chief Justice of Nova Scotia is the highest position in the Nova Scotia judiciary. Since the creation of the Court of Appeal, this title is held by the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal. Prior to that the title was held by the Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Appeal Division (1966–1993) or the Supreme Court (before 1966). For completeness the list includes Chief Justices of Cape Breton Island, which merged with Nova Scotia in 1820. ;Chief Justices of Cape Breton Island * William Smith (1798 -) * William Woodfall (1803 -) * Archibald Charles Dodd (1806–1820) ;Chief Justices of Nova Scotia *

Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New J ...

(1754–1776) * Charles Morris (1776–1778) * Bryan Finucane (1778–1785) *

Isaac Deschamps Isaac Deschamps (c. 1722 – 11 August 1801) was a Canadian judge, and politician. Born in Switzerland or England, Deschamps came to Nova Scotia in 1749. He participated in the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755) at Fort Edward to remove the Acadia ...

(1785–1788) * Jeremy Pemberton (1788–1789)Sir Joseph Chisholm, "Three Justices of Nova Scotia"; Hon. Charles Morris (1711-81), Hon. Jeremy Pemberton (1741-90), and Hon. Sampson Salter Blowers (1743-1842); Nova Scotia Historical Society, Vol. #28 (1949):by #28 (1949); pp. 10. Note. Pemberton's portrait hangs in the Nova Scotia Courts * Sir Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange (1789–1797) * Sampson Salter Blowers (1797–1833) * Sir Brenton Halliburton (1833–1860) * Sir William Young (1860–1881) * James McDonald (1881–1905) * Sir Robert Linton Weatherbe (1905–1907) * Sir Charles James Townshend (1907–1915) * Sir Wallace Nesbit Graham (1915–1917) *

Robert Edward Harris Robert Edward Harris (18 August 1860 – 30 May 1931) was a Canadian businessman, lawyer, and judge. He was the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia from 1918 until his death in 1931. References * http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/harris_robert_edward_1F.htm ...

(1918–1931) * Sir Joseph Andrew Chisholm (1931–1950) *

James Lorimer Ilsley James Lorimer Ilsley, (January 3, 1894 – January 14, 1967) was a Canadian politician and jurist. He was born in Somerset, Nova Scotia, the son of Randel Ilsley and Catherine Caldwell. Ilsley was educated at Acadia University and Dalhousi ...

(1950–1967) *

Lauchlin Daniel Currie Lauchlin Daniel Currie (March 28, 1893 – February 4, 1969) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Cape Breton East from 1933 to 1941 and Richmond from 1941 to 1949 in the Nova Scotia House of Assemb ...

(1967–1968) * Alexander H. McKinnon (1968–1973) * Ian Malcolm MacKeigan (1973–1985) * Lorne Clarke (1985–1998) ;Chief Justices of the Court of Appeal *

Constance Glube Constance Rachelle Glube, (November 23, 1931 – February 15, 2016) was the 21st Chief Justice of Nova Scotia and first female Chief Justice in Canada. Early life Born Constance Lepofsky in Ottawa, she was the daughter of the late Samuel (1894-1 ...

(1998–2004) * J. Michael MacDonald (2005–2019) * Michael Wood (2019–present)

References

External links

Courts of Nova Scotia
{{Nova Scotia politics Canadian appellate courts Nova Scotia courts 1993 establishments in Nova Scotia Courts and tribunals established in 1993