In late June, human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed filed a lawsuit asking the Federal Court to order the prime minister and justice minister to fill nearly 80 judge vacancies across provincial superior courts. Judicial vacancies have caused significant and growing court delays, which have “harmed” his vulnerable clients, Hameed said in his lawsuit.
Just weeks before, Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote Justin Trudeau urging him to fill the “untenable” superior court vacancies. “The government’s inertia regarding vacancies and the absence of satisfactory explanations for these delays are disconcerting,” he wrote in a letter obtained by Radio-Canada.
