Ian Mulgrew: To judge is human, maybe
“The subtle play of forces that empower judges to make law and that constrain judges in the choices they make is not well-understood by the lay public, by politicians, or by scholars of other disciplines.”
Justices in Canada are often treated like veritable saints and martyrs — as if they were Our Lady of Pincher Creek Beverley McLachlin or St. Thomas Berger.
The Lords and Ladies of the country’s courtrooms are also sometimes portrayed as well-paid officials with opaque expense accounts, little presence outside of the courtroom, clinging to aristocratic honorifics, 18th-century robes, and a medieval sense of entitlement.
Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Robert Sharpe tried to dispel some of that and pull back the curtain on the reality in his 2018 book, Good Judgment: Making Judicial Decisions, part of my catch-up summer reading.
