Protecting and safeguarding judicial independence does not mean that the Court’s judges are unaccountable. In most cases, litigants may appeal the Court’s decisions. Additionally, the Court’s judiciary are governed by ethical principles and held accountable through a complaints process.

Judges

Judges are expected to uphold the Canadian Judicial Council’s Ethical Principles for Judges. Those principles are judicial independence, integrity, respect, diligence, competence, equality, and impartiality. The Canadian Judicial Council (“CJC”) is a federal organization whose role includes establishing conduct standards for federally appointed judges and investigating conduct complaints, including those about any Superior Court judge in Canada. If you have a complaint about the conduct of a Superior Court Judge, please visit Canadian Judicial Council for more information.

Please note that the CJC is not a court and does not have the jurisdiction to review or change a decision made by a Superior Court judge. Decisions made by Superior Court Judges may (subject to certain exceptions) be appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Associate Judges

As with judges, associate judges have an obligation to uphold the Canadian Judicial Council’s Ethical Principles for Judges to ensure the integrity, impartiality, and independence of the judiciary.

If you have concerns about the conduct of an associate judge, you may make a complaint in writing to the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice.

The Chief Justice will review the complaint. The Chief Justice may dismiss the complaint or refer it for investigation by a committee. A complaint can be dismissed at this stage if it:

• is frivolous,
• is an abuse of process, or
• concerns a minor matter that has already been dealt with appropriately.

If the complaint is not dismissed, it will be referred to a committee for investigation. This committee includes a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, an associate judge, and a non-legal member. Both you and the associate judge will have the opportunity to present your views to the committee. The committee will then report its findings to the Chief Justice, who will decide the outcome. Possible actions include dismissing the complaint, warning, or reprimanding the associate judge, ordering an apology, requiring corrective actions, suspending the judge, limiting their duties, or removing them from office.

A conduct complaint is not an appeal. The Chief Justice cannot change an associate judge’s decision.

For more information concerning the complaint process, please refer to s. 86.2 of the Courts of Justice Act.

Deputy Judges

Deputy judges of the Small Claims Court are also guided by the Ethical Principles for Judges. which provide ethical guidance to federally appointed judges. The Deputy Judges of the Small Claims Court are lawyers who are actively engaged in the practice of law, or retired lawyers or judges. They are members of the Law Society of Ontario and are subject to the Law Society Rules of Professional Conduct. The Ethical Principles for Judges. apply to Deputy Judges presiding in Small Claims Court in all respects, subject to the fact that certain of the Commentaries which form part of the Principles should be interpreted to reflect that the Deputy Judges do not preside full-time and do not have tenure.

If you have concerns about the conduct of a deputy judge, you may make a complaint by writing to the Regional Senior Judge. The Regional Senior Judge will provide the complaint to the region’s Administrative Judge for the Small Claims Court.

The Administrative Judge will review the complaint. They may dismiss the complaint or refer it for investigation by a committee. A complaint can be dismissed at this stage if it:

• falls outside the regional senior judge’s authority,
• is frivolous or an abuse of process, or
• is about a minor issue that has already been dealt with appropriately.

If the complaint is referred to a committee, then the committee will investigate the complaint and make recommendations to the Regional Senior Judge. The Regional Senior Judge will decide the outcome of the complaint. Possible outcomes include dismissing the complaint, warning or reprimanding the deputy judge, ordering an apology, requiring corrective actions, suspending the deputy judge, limiting their duties, or removing them from office.

A conduct complaint is not an appeal. The Administrative Judge cannot change the deputy judge’s decision. If you wish to challenge the deputy judge’s decision, there may be other processes available to you.

For more information about the complaint process,see section 33.1 of the Courts of Justice Act