Training for new federally appointed judges

Judicial education providers

In the mid-70’s, the Canadian Judicial Council established that newly appointed judges attend training seminars that were originally offered by the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ) before this responsibility was taken over by the National Judicial Institute (NJI), after it was created in 1988. Since then, the NJI has been the main provider of national educational programs for federally appointed judges.

The NJI, an independent not-for-profit organization, also develops and delivers high-quality educational programs and resources for provincial and territorial judges. In addition, the organization offers local court requested programs, e-Resources, computer training programs and other educational tools including jury instructions, bench books, and e-modules.

Training requirements

Recently appointed judges are required to complete specific education and training programs including the New Judges’ Program and Judging in Your First Five Years, as set out in their Professional Development Plan.

Recently appointed judges are also required to complete any nationally developed modules for new judges and any other training prescribed by their Chief Justice or designate. The Council recommends that Chief Justices or designates pair recently appointed judges with more experienced members of the judiciary to facilitate their transition from the bar to the bench.

For the duration of their career, judges are expected to invest 10 days per year for professional development, as indicated in the Canadian Judicial Council Professional Development Policies and Guidelines.

Judging in Your First Five Years

The NJI offers two programs for judges in their first five years on the bench:

one on Family Law and
one on Criminal Law.

Federally appointed judges are required to attend one of these programs during their first five years on the bench.

Judging in Your First Five Years: Criminal Law

This intensive six-day program enables new judges to build their competence in managing criminal trials, from judicial pre-trials to sentencing. As sexual assault trials pose some of the greatest challenges in judging, the seminar uses a sexual assault fact scenario to anchor the issues and allow participants to practice relevant skills.

Judging in Your First Five Years: Family Law

This intensive course focuses on the skills judges need to manage family trials fairly and effectively. These skills include communicating with individuals in crisis, settlement conferencing, managing a file over the long term, identifying the needs of the litigants and their families, and more.

These two courses are available to judges who have completed both weeks of the New Judges’ Program for federally appointed judges and are intended for those who have been on the bench for less than five years.

New Judges' Program

The National Judicial Institute and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice jointly deliver two seminars each year for new federally appointed judges – one in the Spring and one in the Fall.

Some of the sessions are addressed to all judges, while some are tailored to common law judges, and others to civil law judges. However, all participants jointly attend sessions on judicial independence and judicial ethics, judgment writing, strategies for ensuring equal access to justice for persons with disabilities, as well as the relationship between judging and social context, with a particular focus on the law of sexual assault and cases involving Indigenous peoples.
Judges from all jurisdictions also attend sessions on family law, applications for injunctions, the preparation and delivery of oral judgments, the law of evidence, civil procedure, judicial review of administrative action, self-represented litigants, and courtroom and trial management.
Finally, a suite of sessions for common law judges deal with criminal law topics ranging from jury selection to sentencing, while civil law judges spend time working on effective communication in the courtroom and review the law relating to regulatory offences and consent to medical care.