Two municipal judges who sought to stay on the bench beyond the retirement age of 70 lost their legal battle after Quebec Superior Court held that a mandatory retirement age for provincially-nominated magistrates is not discriminatory and is necessary to preserve judicial independence.
But the ruling has not settled the issue of mandatory retirement age for provincially-nominated judges, according to Gérald Tremblay, former batonnier of the Quebec law society. Seven years ago, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that a law forcing justices of the peace in the province to retire at the age of 70 was a violation of equality rights guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Justice Strathy, now Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal, substituted – or “read in” – new provisions that allow justices of the peace to keep working until age 75, subject to the annual approval of the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, even though the official retirement age is 65.