Seated in Winnipeg, the Court is headed by the Chief Justice of Manitoba, and is composed of a total of 13 justices. At any given time, there may be one or more additional justices who sit as supernumerary justices.[1][2]
Most cases are heard by a panel of three justices.[1] 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.[4][citation needed]
Judges
Pursuant to The Court of Appeal Act,[5] the Court consists of a Chief Justice and 12 other judges, all of whom are federally-appointed pursuant to the Judges Act.[1][2]
Under the Judges Act,[6] 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.[2]
The first female appointed to the Court was Bonnie M. Helper, on 30 June 1989.[citation needed] The sons of two former Court of Appeal justices (Samuel Freedman and Alfred Monnin) currently or have recently served as judges on the court (Martin Freedman, Michel Monnin, and Marc Monnin).
Initially appointed as "Chief Justice Appeal," his title was changed to Chief Justice of Manitoba on 15 November 1909; he served in that position until 7 April 1918
William Egerton Perdue
July 23, 1906
Chief Justice of Manitoba from 25 May 1918 until 30 December 1929
The Chief Justice of Manitoba heads the Manitoba Court of Appeal. 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.
From 1872 to 1906, the Chief Justice was seated in the Court of Queen’s/King's Bench, which held appellate jurisdiction. The appellate jurisdiction was transferred to the Court of Appeal upon its creation in 1906, and thereafter, the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal has been the Chief Justice of Manitoba.[9]
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
Frederick Read, "Early History of the Manitoba Courts", Manitoba Bar News (1937) Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2
