Supreme_Court_of_Nova_Scotia

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Superior court in the province of Nova Scotia


The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia.

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice.[1] At any given time there may be one or more additional justices who sit as supernumerary justices.[1] The justices sit in 18 different locations around the province.

Jurisdiction

As with all superior courts across the country, the court is said to have inherent jurisdiction. It hears civil and criminal trials. The criminal trials can be judge alone or judge and jury. The court will also hear appeals from the provincial court, small claims court, Family court, and various provincial tribunals.

Appeals of Supreme Court decisions are then made to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

History

1st Chief Justice Jonathan Belcher by John Singleton Copley (1754), Court Room 4, Nova Scotia Supreme Court
Site of First Court House Plaque, Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, Scotia Square, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange By Benjamin West, Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Court Room 5, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada[2]

While the first court administering the Common Law was established in Annapolis Royal in 1721, the creation of a Supreme Court took place on October 21, 1754, several years before the Province was granted a legislative assembly.[3] The court is the oldest court in Canada and is among the oldest in North America.

Jonathan Belcher was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. The court's jurisdiction extended to the entire colony, which, after the Treaty of Paris ended the war with France in 1763, includes present day Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and eastern Maine.

In 1990, on the recommendation of the Nova Scotia Court Structure Task Force, the County and Supreme courts were merged to create a bench of 25 judges at the trial level. Since 1999, the Supreme Court also administers the Nova Scotia Family Division Court, with eight judges, that has jurisdiction over divorces and other family law cases in the Halifax and industrial Cape Breton.

Supreme Court Family Division

The Supreme Court includes the Family Division which adjudicates matters of family law in the regions of Halifax and Cape Breton. As Supreme Court Justices, they have authority over both divorce as well as all other family law matters, unlike their provincial court counterparts who do not have the federal authority to adjudicate divorces.

Justices of the Supreme Court

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Past Judges

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Judges of the Supreme Court Family Division

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References

  1. "Federal Judicial Appointments - Number of Federally Appointed Judges in Canada". fja.gc.ca. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  2. According to Thomas Akins, this portrait hung in the legislature of Province House (Nova Scotia) in 1847 (See Akins, History of Halifax, p. 189). According to Arthur Eaton, the portrait was still in Province House in 1891. p. 33
  3. Benjamin, Graeme (24 June 2019). "Trudeau announces appointment of Nova Scotia Supreme Court chief justice | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  4. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  5. "Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judicial Appointments Announced". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  6. "Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judicial Appointment Announced". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  7. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  8. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". 11 April 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  9. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 28 December 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  10. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 28 March 2002. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  11. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 16 April 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 20 April 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  13. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  14. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  15. "Fifty-eighth General Assembly". Nova Scotia Legislature. 16 April 2010.
  16. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 14 February 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  17. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 25 February 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  18. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 20 May 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  19. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED". 28 March 2002. Archived from the original on 28 March 2002.
  20. Chief Justices Courts of Nova Scotia
  21. "PM announces Nova Scotia judicial appointment". Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  22. "Nova Scotia Judicial Appointment Announced". Archived from the original on 29 June 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2003.
  23. "Nova Scotia Judicial Appointment Announced". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  24. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  25. "Nova Scotia Judicial Appointment Announced". Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  26. "Nova Scotia Judicial Appointment Announced". Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  27. "JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA, FAMILY DIVISION ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 17 April 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  28. "NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED". Dept of Justice. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2018.

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