Does the System of Judicial Appointment Matter? Exploring Women’s Representation on Ontario’s Courts

Abstract

Using an original dataset of appointments to Ontario’s provincial and superior courts from 1972 to 2012, this article explores whether the system of judicial appointment affects the representation of women on the bench. In addition to providing a comprehensive review of judicial appointments in Ontario, the article finds that since the introduction of new judicial appointments systems by the federal and Ontario governments in 1989, the provincial system appointed approximately 5 percent more women judges. The data also reveals that Conservative parties were less likely to appoint women to the bench than the Liberal Party and NDP over this forty-year period. If diversity on the bench is to be a serious policy objective for governments, this research indicates that certain approaches may prove more effective than others. In particular, Ontario’s provincial nominating committee system has been more successful in appointing women judges—especially in the years it actively recruited women applicants—than the federal government’s review committee system.