The Attorney General appealed a decision finding that the Order-in-Council process for setting the remuneration of Small Claims Court deputy judges violated the principle of judicial independence.
The Court of Appeal held that deputy judges are entitled to an independent, effective, and objective process for determining their remuneration, and that the current purely political Order-in-Council process fails to meet this constitutional standard.
However, the Court allowed the appeal in part, finding that the application judge erred in mandating a specific commission model, and gave the government four months to establish a constitutionally compliant process.
