4111 – Judges
Judges adjudicate civil and criminal cases and administer justice in courts of law. Judges preside over federal and provincial courts.
Profile
Index of titles
Example titles
- Administrative judge
- Appellate court judge
- Associate chief justice
- Chief justice
- County court judge
- County judge
- Court of Queen’s Bench justice
- Deputy justice
- District and surrogate court judge
- District court judge
- Family court judge
- Federal court justice
- Federal court justice – trial division
- Federal Court of Appeal justice
- Federal trial court justice
- Judge – law
- Justice
- Juvenile court judge
- Magistrate court judge
- Probate court judge
- Provincial court judge
- Provincial court of appeal justice
- Provincial supreme court justice
- Puisne judge
- Small claims court judge
- Superior court justice
- Supreme Court justice
- Supreme Court of Canada justice
- Tax Court judge
- Trial court judge
- Youth court judge
Main duties
This group performs some or all of the following duties:
- Preside over courts of law, interpret and enforce rules of procedure and make rulings regarding the admissibility of evidence
- Instruct the jury on laws that are applicable to the case
- Weigh and consider evidence in non-jury trials and decide legal guilt or innocence or degree of liability of the accused or defendant
- Pass sentence on persons convicted in criminal cases and determine damages or other appropriate remedy in civil cases
- Grant divorces and divide assets between spouses
- Determine custody of children between contesting parents and other guardians
- Enforce court orders for access or support
- Supervise other judges and court officers.
Judges may specialize in particular areas of law such as civil, criminal or family law.
Employment requirements
- Extensive experience as a lawyer or as a professor of law with continuous membership in the bar association is usually required.
- Membership in good standing with a provincial or territorial law society or bar association is required.
- Judges are appointed by federal or provincial cabinets.
- Those appointed to more senior positions in a court, such as chief justice, usually have experience as judges in that court.
Exclusions
- Administrative tribunal judges (in 0411 Government managers – health and social policy development and program administration)
- Citizenship court judges (in 1227 Court officers and justices of the peace)
- Justices of the Peace (in 1227 Court officers and justices of the peace)