Overview
The Federal Court of Canada is a superior court of record with civil and criminal jurisdiction. The Court was created in 1971 as successor to the Exchequer Court of Canada which was established in 1875. Both courts were established under the authority of Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867, as courts of law, equity and admiralty for the "better administration of the laws of Canada."
The Federal Court of Canada is a bilingual court offering services in both English and French and is bi-jural, administering the two legal systems - common law and civil law. It is also itinerant, in the sense that it sits and transacts business at any place in Canada, to suit, as nearly as may be, the convenience of the parties. It is the objective of the Court to secure the just, most expeditious and least expensive determination of every proceeding on its merits.
The court is the only court in Canada with jurisdiction over certain specialized areas, eg, maritime law, patent and copyright law, although in some specialized areas it shares concurrent jurisdiction with provincial superior courts.
Until 2003, the Federal Court of Canada consisted of two divisions: an Appeal and a Trial Division. With amendments to the Federal Courts Act coming into force on July 2, 2003, these divisions became two separate courts: the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
The Honourable Allan Lutfy, Chief Justice of the Federal Court
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The Honourable
Allan Lutfy |
- Born November 21, 1943 in Montréal, Quebec.
- Education at Loyola College and McGill University.
- Called to the Quebec Bar, 1968 and Bar of Ontario, 1985.
- Practised with Lavery, de Billy and its predecessor firms, 1968-73 and 1979-96, in civil litigation and administrative law.
- Political advisor with the federal government, 1973-79.
- Counsel before a number of commissions of inquiry, including the McDonald Commission (Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its Security Service), the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (State of Competition in the Canadian Petroleum Industry) and the Dubin Commission (Use of Drugs in Sports).
- Counsel for the Security Intelligence Review Committee and the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, 1986-96 .
- Appointed Queen's Counsel, 1983.
- Appointed judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and member ex officio of the Court of Appeal, August 7, 1996;
- Member of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, August 28, 1997;
- Member of the Court's Rules Committee, September 1998;
Member of the Competition Tribunal, 1999-2001 and Associate Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada, December 8, 1999.
- Since July 2, 2003, the date of the coming into force of the Courts Administration Service Act, he is now the Chief Justice of the Federal Court and is therefore 16th on the Canadian Order of Precedence.
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