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 body may subsequently make a new appointment to that Court.
The role of supernumerary judges varies by jurisdiction. In the
United States federal courts
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...
, this describes the status of judges who have taken
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...
. Supernumerary judges are widely used in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, for example, where the chief justice of the state supreme court can assign retired judges or justices to act as supernumerary judges on any court of the state. Supernumerary judicial positions are also widely used in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
[David H. Flaherty, ''Essays in the History of Canadian Law'' (2015).]
In Canada, a judge may request supernumerary status when they have continued in judicial office for at least 15 years and their combined age and number of years in judicial office is not less than 80 or they have attained the age of 70 years and have continued in judicial office for at least 10 years. The salary of each supernumerary judge of a superior court is the salary annexed to the office of a judge of that court other than a chief justice, senior associate chief justice or associate chief justice.
References
Judges
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