Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
Judicial Selection: Ontario in Canada and Missouri in the United States
How do people become judges? They have enough authority to impact not only
individual people, but also people in communities and even every person in a country through
policy changes, decisions, and sentencing. There are many different type of judges including
those that only work with trial cases and those who work with appellate cases. But who gives
these judges the chance at this powerful job? Zel M. Fischer, Patricia Breckenridge, Ferhan
Javed, and Kimberly Eva Marie Moore are all judges. Fischer and Breckenridge are currently
serving in the Supreme Court of Missouri in the United States, while Javed and Moore are
serving in the Ontario Court of Justice in Canada. But how did these four people make it to one
of the highest positions a judge can obtain? This question is different depending on where they
are serving. This essay will attempt to answer the question of how someone becomes a judge in
both Ontario and Missouri.
If someone is interested in becoming a judge in Ontario, they need to make sure they
fulfill all of the requirements. Prospective judges must have a total of ten years’ full-time work
experience. This can be volunteer or paid as long as the combined total is ten years. A diploma or
degree from a college of applied arts and technology is required. The prospective judge cannot
be involved in any serious criminal charges, civil actions, professional claims or complaints,
financial claims, or bankruptcy. Because judges in Ontario have a mandatory retirement age of
65, any applicants over age 65 will not be considered. Prospective judges may be required to
complete a language proficiency test in addition to fulfilling these requirements (Judges Library,
n.d.).
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
If someone meets these requirements, they can apply to be a judge in Ontario as long as
there is an opening. All applications will be sent to the current Justices of the Peace
Appointments Advisory Committee (JPAAC). “JPAAC consists of a core committee of seven
members, including a judge and a justice of the peace appointed by the Chief Justice of the
Ontario Court of Justice, a justice of the peace appointed by the Chief Justice of the Ontario
Court of Justice who is either the Senior Justice of the Peace Responsible for the Ontario Native
Justice of the Peace Program or another justice of the peace familiar with aboriginal issues, and
four members appointed by the Attorney General. (Judges Library, n.d.).” When the deadline to
apply has arrived, the commission looks at the prospective judges. They go through the
applications, make background checks, and decide if they need to interview any candidates. If
they decide an interview is need, a minimum of four commission members interviews the
candidate. One person must be a judge and another must be from the applicant’s region. The last
job for the commission is to classify each candidate as not qualified, qualified, or highly
qualified. Then the entire list of prospective judges is sent to the Attorney General. The Attorney
General decides from all the applicants who will fulfill the vacancy. They are allowed to choose
any ranking and if they choose a not qualified candidate, they must explain why (Judges Library,
n.d.).
Justice Javed began his path to judgeship by going to school. He earned a masters of law
in Criminal Law and Procedure. He has experience prosecuting federal matters as a standing
agent of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada as well as owning his own criminal defense
practice. Justice Javed is fluent in French, Urdu, and Punjabi. He started his judgeship in the
Ontario Court of Justice on December 17, 2014 (Ministry of the Attorney General, 2014).
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
Justice Moore also started on December 17, 2014. She was an assistant Crown attorney
for 13 years before completing three years as a Crown attorney for the Ministry of the Attorney
General. Both of these judges participated in volunteer programs with educational networks.
They also are members of various lawyer associations. These combined with their work
experience made them the best candidates for the vacancies (Ministry of the Attorney General,
2014).
Missouri’s process of judicial selection is similar to Ontario’s. In order to be a judge in
Missouri, there are certain qualifications that must be fulfilled. The prospective judge must be 30
years old but under 75, which is the mandatory retirement age. They must have been a United
States citizen for 15 years and a qualified voter of Missouri for nine years as well as be licensed
to practice law in Missouri. The state of Missouri has two different ways that they select judges:
partisan election and the Non-Partisan Court Plan or The Missouri Plan as it is known nationally.
The first is generally used in small towns where everyone knows everyone else. In these towns,
the community tends to know about potential judges so it doesn’t take a lot to campaign.
However, in bigger communities throughout Missouri, there is a concern about politics in the
court system. There is a fear that if large cities use a partisan election for judges, then the
potential judges could receive a large donation from corporations or individuals. This could
make the judge impartial and defeat the purpose of a fair and partial judge. Even if it does not
affect the judge, the appearance will be present. Because of this, Missouri created the NonPartisan Court Plan (The Missouri Bar).
In the Missouri Plan, there is a commission similar to Ontario’s. In Missouri, who the
commission is made of depends on the type of court the vacancy for judge is. If an appellate
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
court needs a judge, the appellate commission is made of a judge from the Supreme Court of
Missouri, three lay members chosen by the governor, and three lawyers elected by bar members
from their circuit. If it is a trial court, the circuit commission is used. The circuit commission is
made of the chief judge of the Court of Appeals in the district the vacancy is in, two lawyers and
two lay members. The lawyers and lay members are appointed in the same fashion as the
appellate commission (The Missouri Bar).
Missouri’s commissions examines the applications and determines the best of them. They
create a group of three that they feel would best fulfil the vacancy. The governor gets this list and
chooses one nominee from it to become the new judge. The new judge will do their work for at
least 12 months. At the next general election, voters will decide to keep them or not. As long as a
simple majority say yes, they stay on as judge. If the simple majority says no, then a new judge
will be chosen by the committee and the governor (Missouri Courts, n.d.).
Judge Fischer started his path to judgeship by attending school. He received a Bachelor
of Arts degree from William Jewel College. While there he majored in Philosophy and Political
Science. He was also in Kappa Alpha Order. After the Bachelor’s degree, he went to the
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law to earn a Juris Doctor, which is the first
professional graduate degree one can obtain for law. After his schooling, Judge Fischer started
his professional work as a law clerk for Honorable Andrew Jackson Higgins of the Supreme
Court of Missouri. Between 1989 and 2006 he was an attorney. Starting in 2006, Judge Fischer
became a judge. He worked a couple years as an Associate Circuit Judge in 4th Judicial Circuit
before being appointed in October 2008 as a Missouri Supreme Court Judge. He was retained at
the 2010 general election (Missouri Courts, n.d.).
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
Judge Breckenridge followed a similar path as Judge Fischer. She started with school at
the University of Arkansas in 1972. Then she earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural
Economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975. Staying at the University of
Missouri-Columbia she earned her Juris Doctor. Judge Breckenridge’s work experience is
different than Judge Fischer’s because she didn’t start her professional career as a law clerk.
Instead, she was an associate in the law firm Russell, Brown, and Bickel for two years. For the
next two years, she became a partner in the same law firm, changing the name to Russell, Brown,
Bickel, and Breckenridge. This is the time when Judge Breckenridge became an Assistant
Municipal Judge. She then worked her way to be an Associate Judge followed by a judgeship in
the Missouri Court of Appeals. In September 2007 Judge Breckenridge was appointed to the
Supreme Court of Missouri (Missouri Courts, n.d.).
Both of these judges participated in various political activities and associations. They also
had honor classes or groups when they were in school. Another similarity between these two is
that they have a lot of different memberships to lawyer associations throughout the years. One
could safely assume that these two judges got where they are today because of their skills and
work experience (Missouri Courts, n.d.).
There are many aspects for the selection processes for Ontario and Missouri that are
similar to each other. There are also different aspects to both. Both judicial selection systems
have a committee to help narrow down the selection of nominees. However, though their jobs are
to limit the selection of prospective judges, the way they do it is different. In Missouri, the
commission narrows the list down to three nominees. The governor cannot choose any of the
other applicants. In Ontario, however, the Attorney General can choose any nominee, regardless
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
of the commission’s rating. Another similarity for the committees is who is in them. The
Attorney General/Governor gets to choose a good portion of both committees. However, in
Canada, there are no lawyers on the commission.
Both Ontario and Missouri value education in their prospective judges. In Ontario, they
must have a college degree as well as ten years’ experience. In Missouri, the prospective judge
must be certified to practice law in Missouri. This means that they must have gone to law school
and passed the bar test. Another important requirement that both places look at is age. Since both
have a mandatory retirement age for their judges, the prospective judge must be below this age.
All four of the example judges went to law school. In Judge Javed’s case, his proficiency
in other languages helped him earn his judgeship. This is because Canada not only has English as
a national language, but they also have French. Because of this, those who can speak both are
regarded highly in their experience.
There are many different ways throughout the world that judges are selected. In Ontario
and Missouri, judges are selected through a commission process. In both places, the
commission’s job is to narrow down the list of applicants, however, the results are different for
both. In both places the person in charge (either the Attorney General or the governor) ultimately
decides who fulfills a judicial vacancy. It appears that Canada gives this person more discretion
in choosing who fills that role because they can choose from all of the applicants. On the other
hand, in Missouri, they only get a list of three applicants. This is how judges are selected in both
Ontario and Missouri.
Tracy Tillman
Comparative Courts
January 15, 2015
Final Paper
References
Judges Library. (n.d.). Ontario Court of Justice. Retrieved from http://www.ontariocourts.ca/ocj/
Ministry of the Attorney General. (2014). New Judges Appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice.
Missouri Courts. (n.d.). Your Missouri Courts. Retrieved from www.courts.mo.gov
The Missouri Bar. (n.d.). The Missouri Plan.