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Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
January 1 2021 - December 31 2021

Official Language Training 2021

In order to provide judicial services in Canada’s official languages, federally appointed judges have the opportunity to take French and English courses to improve their knowledge.

Number of Participants: 404

Overview

As part of its activities to promote bilingualism in the Canadian judiciary, the Judges’ Language Training (JLT) program organizes four second official language immersion sessions and one legal terminology session every year in various locations in Canada.

Throughout the sessions, participants learn in groups of four to six people with similar language proficiency levels. The proficiency level of individual participants is assessed by a JLT member.

Training is provided by a team of experienced linguists and legal practitioners with valid security clearance.

Judges can take immersion courses in a group setting and private lessons.

Immersion courses:

  • 149 federally appointed judges attended one or two sessions.

Private lessons:

  • 255 judges received private lessons, for a total of 7,690 hours.

The following courses were offered in 2021:

English as a Second Official Language

  • For judges at all levels

  • Depending on their proficiency level, participants acquire and develop language skills and legal terminology in English, or focus on maintaining and perfecting abilities in English for legal purposes.

French as a Second Official Language

  • For judges at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels

  • Participants are guided through targeted lessons of French as a Second Official Language curriculum, acquiring and developing language skills and legal terminology.

French as a Second Official Language

  • For judges at the mastery level

  • Participants are guided through language courses with abundant legal content, aimed at maintaining and perfecting abilities in French to conduct their duties.

  •  

    Admitted participants communicate in French with evident ease, prove advanced abilities in French despite some deficiencies, and are able or about to be able to preside and write judgments in French.

 French Legal Terminology

  • For francophone judges of common law provinces

  • Participants are guided through thematic courses based on their needs and interests (Prise de parole en salle d’audience, Atelier de rédaction judiciaire, Nouveautés jurisprudentielles, Grammaire sur mesure, Droit de la famille, Enrichissement du vocabulaire, etc.).

  • Non-francophone judges who preside and write judgments in French may be allowed to enroll under certain conditions.