Rule of law
Canada is governed by the Rule of Law. The requirement that our courts follow the Rule of Law is a fundamental principle of Canada’s democracy.
The same laws apply to everyone regardless of their occupation, level of wealth, race, colour, sexual orientation, gender or other personal characteristics
All people are treated equally by the same standards
Political influences or popularity polls have no part in a Court of Law, decisions must be made based on the law and evidence
No person is above the law
The rule of law and why it matters (5 minute podcast)
Canada's Rule of Law (Coalition of Canadian Law Societies)
Judicial independence
All Canadians have a constitutional right to have their legal issues decided by fair and impartial judges.
There are three branches of government in Canada:
- The legislative branch passes laws
- The executive branch develops and implements policies
- The judicial branch (the courts) interprets the laws, resolves disputes, and upholds the Constitution including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
To uphold the Rule of Law, the judicial branch must be separate from, and operate independently of, all other justice system participants, including the other two branches of government.
Judicial independence means that a court’s judges and judicial justices have the freedom to decide each case on its own merits, without interference or influence of any kind from any source. While judicial decisions rarely result in everyone being happy, our justice system is founded on confidence that decisions, whether popular or not, are fully heard and fairly made. It is crucial that judges be independent and appear to be independent so that people can rely on judicial decisions being made without bias.
To guarantee the right to an independent and impartial judiciary, the law in Canada has constitutional protections or "essential conditions" that ensure judicial independence. These are security of tenure, financial security and administrative independence.
Judicial Council Annual Reports