Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
The Royal Arms as used by the Supreme Court [1]
Interactive map of Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
Established	1730
Jurisdiction	Newfoundland and Labrador
Composition method	appointed by the federal government
Authorised by	All criminal and civil proceedings [2]
Appeals to	Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 75
Number of positions	27
Website	court.nl.ca/supreme
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Currently	Raymond P. Whalen
Since	11 December 2014

The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador is the superior court for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals in both criminal and civil matters from the Provincial Court and designated boards and administrative tribunals. The court also hear serious criminal cases in the first instances, matters of probate, and family law matters.

The Supreme Court consists of 29 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice. Of the current justices, 4 sit with supernumerary status. ^[3]

About the Court

South facade of the St. John's Court House.

The Court is composed of the General Division and Family Division, and has the authority to hear a wide range of cases including civil and criminal matters, matters of estates and guardianship, and family matters. The Court has the authority to hear appeals of specific matters not under jurisdiction of the province's appellate court.

The Court is located in six regions of the province: Corner Brook (3 justices), Gander (1 justice), Grand Bank (1 justice), Grand Falls-Windsor (1 justice), Happy Valley-Goose Bay (1 justice), and St. John's (18 justices). ^[4]

Current justices

Name	Appointed	Division	Location	Nominated by	Prior position(s)
Chief Justice Raymond P. Whalen	June 19, 2008 (Trial) December 11, 2014 (CJ)	Trial	St. John's	Harper
Justice Valerie L. Marshall	April 29, 2009	Trial	St. John's	Harper	Solo Practitioner
Justice Rosalie McGrath [5]	May 31, 2012	Family	St. John's	Harper
Justice Laura A. Mennie [6]	March 9, 2014	Family	Corner Brook	Harper	Provincial court (2012 to 2014) Newfoundland Department of (2007 to 2012) Legal Aid (1994 to 2007) Poole, Althouse (1993 to 1994)
Justice George L. Murphy [7]	April 10, 2014	Family	Corner Brook	Harper	Poole Althouse (1992 to 2014)
Justice Jane M. Fitzpatrick [8]	March 27, 2015	Family	St. John's	Harper
Justice Cillian D. Sheahan [9]	June 20, 2015	Family	St. John's	Harper
Justice Sandra R. Chaytor [10]	May 12, 2017	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau	Cox & Palmer
Justice Vikas Khaladkar [11]	October 20, 2017	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Alexander S. MacDonald [12]	November 9, 2017	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Michelle Coady	March 26, 2019	Family	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Peter Browne	March 24, 2021	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Irene Muzychka	March 24, 2021	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Trudy Button	March 24, 2021	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Stacy Ryan	March 24, 2021	Trial	Happy Valley-Goose Bay	Trudeau
Justice Peter O'Flaherty	May 21, 2021	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Philip Osborne	May 21, 2021	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Melanie Del Rizzo	October 11, 2022	Trial	Grand Falls-Windsor	Trudeau
Justice Thomas Johnson	October 11, 2022	Trial	Corner Brook	Trudeau
Justice Leanne O'Leary	August 28, 2023	Trial	Gander	Trudeau
Justice David Conway	October 10, 2023	Trial	Grand Bank	Trudeau
Justice Stephanie Hickman	October 10, 2023	Family	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Trina Simms	July 19, 2024	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Dean Porter	November 27, 2024	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau
Justice Justin Mellor	December 17, 2024	Trial	St. John's	Trudeau

Supernumerary

Name	Date appointed	Division	Nominated by	Prior Position(s)
Justice Kendra J. Goulding	June 5, 2002	Trial	Chretien
Justice Alphonsus E. Faour	November 5, 2003	Trial
Justice Garrett A. Handrigan [10]	March 27, 2001	Trial
Justice Robert P. Stack [13]	November 30, 2009	Trial	Harper	Cox & Palmer (1984 to 2009)

See also

• Judicial appointments in Canada
• Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador

References

1. "Supreme Court". Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
2. "Judicature Act". Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
3. Number of Federally Appointed Judges
4. About the Judiciary, Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
5. "Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointment Announced". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. June 1, 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
6. "Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointments Announced". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. January 31, 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
7. "Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointment Announced". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. April 11, 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
8. "Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointment Announced". Government of Canada. March 27, 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
9. "Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointment Announced". Government of Canada. May 29, 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
10. "Government of Canada Announces Judicial Appointments in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. May 12, 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
11. "Government of Canada Announces Judicial Appointment in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. October 20, 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
12. "Government of Canada Announces Judicial Appointment in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. November 9, 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
13. "Newfoundland and Labrador Judicial Appointment Announced". Government of Canada – Department of Justice. November 27, 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2019.

External links

• Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador