Miscellaneous

French Skills Helpful but Not Required

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Want to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada (aka Cour supreme du Canada)? You may or may not be required to be bilingual.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to make bilingual skills a priority in replacing vacancies on the bench, but one former judge claims that this is not necessary.

For one thing, the amount of fluency is open to question. Should the person just be able to understand both English and French, or also be able to write opinions in both languages? Few sitting judges meet the latter standard.

Simultaneous translation is available (though, for anyone who's ever been simultaneously translated, it's hard to get used to). Documents can be translated, of course.

Such is the plight of unilingual anglophones. We can't decide whether to smother our pain with freshly-baked madeleines, drown them in Moosehead, or both. C'est la vie.

See Bilingualism Not a Priority for Top Court, Ex-Judge Says, Janice Tibbetts, The Gazette (May 8, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).