The Manitoba Court of Appeal is the highest Court of Appeal in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was established in 1906. It is located in the Old Law Courts building at 408 York Avenue in Winnipeg, the capital city of Manitoba. It hears criminal, civil and family law cases, as well as appeals from various administrative boards and tribunals.

Pursuant to The Court of Appeal Act, the court consists of a Chief Justice and seven other judges. The Chief Justice is responsible for the judicial functions of the court, including direction over sittings of the court and the assignment of judicial duties.

Most cases are heard by a panel of three justices. A single justice presides over matters heard in ”chambers”, usually interlocutory matters or applications for leave to appeal. Proceedings before the court are governed by the Court of Appeal Rules.

As a "Superior Court" under section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867, Court of Appeal judges are appointed by the Governor-General of Canada (in practical terms, the Prime Minister of Canada). Appointees must be members of the Manitoba bar, but need not have had previous experience as a judge. However, appointees almost always have some experience as a judge, usually on the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench.

Current Justices [edit]

Under the federal Judges Act, federally appointed judges (such as those on the Manitoba Court of Appeal) may, after being in judicial office for at least 15 years and whose combined age and number of years of judicial service is not less than 80 or after the age of 70 years and at least 10 years judicial service, elect to give up their regular judicial duties and hold office as a supernumerary judge. None of the current members of the Manitoba Court of Appeal have elected supernumerary status.

Past Justices [edit]

Trivia [edit]

Interestingly, the sons of two former Court of Appeal justices (Samuel Freedman and Alfred Monnin) currently serve as judges on the court (Martin Freedman, Michel Monnin and Marc Monnin).

The first female appointed to the Court was Bonnie M. Helper, on June 30, 1989.

Further reading [edit]

• Dale Brawn, "The Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba 1870-1950: A Biographical History" (Toronto: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 2006)
• Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoban Court of Appeal: An Analysis of Twelve Months of Reported Cases" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 31
• Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal 1989" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 334
• Peter McCormick, "A Tale of Two Courts: Appeals from the Manitoba Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, 1970-1990" (1990) 19 Man. L. J. 357
• Peter McCormick and Suzanne Maisey, "A Tale of Two Courts II: Appeals from the Manitoba Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, 1906-1990" (1992) 21 Man. L. J. 1
• Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, 1990" (1992) 21 Man. L. J. 24
• Peter McCormick, "Caseload and Output of the Manitoba Court of Appeal 1991" (1993) 22 Man. L. J. 263
• Peter McCormick, "The Manitoba Court of Appeal, 2000-2004: Caseload, Output and Citations" (2005) 31 Man. L. J. 1
• Professor Frederick Read, "Early History of the Manitoba Courts", Manitoba Bar News (1937) Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2

External links [edit]

• Official webpage
• Public database of the court's decisions
• Publicly accessible court registry system
• Court of Appeal Rules

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