Throughout their careers, Canadian judges need to stay up-to-date with changes in the law. They also work to perfect mediation and courtroom management skills, and learn about social and cultural changes affecting their communities. To accomplish this, BC Provincial Court judges attend court-wide and small group education programs and webinars organized by the Court. They also have access to online resources and programs presented by the National Judicial Institute of Canada. 

“Committed to building better justice through leadership in judicial education”

The National Judicial Institute (NJI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization led jointly by Chief Judicial Officer Justice Tom Crabtree (a BC Supreme Court justice and former Chief Judge of the BC Provincial Court) and Chief Executive Officer, Danielle May-Cuconato. NJI leadership reports to a Board of Governors, on which current Provincial Court Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie and University of Victoria Faculty of Law Professor Jeremy Webber sit, so there is strong representation from BC. 

Forty years ago, judicial education in Canada was provided by courts and a variety of judicial organizations, with little coordination. In 1988, the NJI was founded to provide education to judges across Canada while liaising with other education providers to coordinate and avoid duplication. 

In its early years, the NJI offered traditional in-person programs focused primarily on presentations by speakers and panelists to an audience of judges. But over the years, it has continuously refined adult education techniques to ensure its programs provide wide-ranging opportunities to discuss, reflect on, practice, and apply what is being taught. For example, judges engage with educators and learn from colleagues from other courts in intensive in-person seminars.

To reach judges living in different time zones and thousands of kilometres apart cost-effectively, the NJI also added new approaches including online courses judges can access from home on their own schedules. Its digital education activities grew rapidly during the pandemic, and it now offers an integrated portfolio of digital and in-person programs and resources.

Another NJI innovation was a professional development planning tool that helps judges assess their educational needs and devise personal education plans to guide them in choosing courses. 

“An investment in judicial education is an investment in the rule of law and democracy.”

Chief Justice Richard Wagner
Chair, NJI Board of Governors

Three major areas 

The NJI offers education programs and resources in both English and French in three major aspects of judges’ work:

• substantive law (keeping up-to-date with statute and case law)
• judicial skills (perfecting essential judicial and courtroom skills)
• contextual awareness (appreciating relevant social contexts) 

The NJI has also been a leader in realizing that judges have different educational needs in the first years, the middle, and the later years of their careers. It offers courses that address those needs. 

Judges volunteer

Canadian judges, academics, and other subject matter experts contribute their time, knowledge and experience as they work with NJI staff to develop and present programs. NJI staff includes lawyers, educational experts, event planners, legal translators, IT specialists and project managers who all bring specialized expertise to their work. 

Course design

In 2023/24 the NJI designed and delivered more than 70 in-person education programs. Some of these programs were developed in collaboration with individual courts on topics requested by the court, while others were offered to judges from across Canada. It also released new digital resources, including podcasts and interactive self-study courses on topical subjects like sexual assault trials. 

It uses a methodical process to design each program or resource. This begins by identifying the education needs and formulating specific learning objectives. These guide a judicial planning committee in deciding program content. Once it chooses topics and issues, the committee selects presentation methods that incorporate adult education principles to maximize judges’ engagement and knowledge retention. At its conclusion, each program is evaluated systematically to identify areas for improvement. The lessons learned are then applied in future programs. 

Curriculum review

Judges rated 94% of NJI programs as “very good” or “excellent” in 2023. Nevertheless, the NJI undertook an extensive curriculum review to dig deeper into its programs’ effectiveness and alignment with judges’ professional development objectives. The review and its results are described in the NJI’s 2023/24 annual report. 

National Judicial Institute Annual Report 2023/24

The NJI welcomes public input about issues relevant to judicial education. Its website offers a questionnaire that people can use to identify issues judges need to better understand, and skills judges need to serve the public well. 

NJI website 

International work

The NJI has gained international recognition for its expertise. Since 2000, it has been invited to engage with judges and courts in countries across the world including Ukraine, Mexico, Ghana, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, and Mongolia in projects that supplement their judicial education systems. 

“The NJI is a valuable education resource for Canadian judges. It contributes to courts’ education programs in a cost-effective way, by creating modules that can be replicated and delivered in more than one court. When judges attend its national programs, they learn from each other approaches being used in other provinces that might be applied to their own work. And its online resources enable judges to learn whenever and wherever its convenient.” 

Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie
Member, NJI Board of Governors