The Great Canadian Judicial System: One works, wins and gets $5,000 ..... the other sits on his ass loses and gets over $140,000!
Good Day Readers:
It's at times like this you realize just how totally ....ed-up the country's judicial system really is as more and taxpayers are discovering. Go figure. Toronto area lawyer Rocco Galati and his Constitutional Rights Centre invested about $68,000 in fighting the Harper government appointment of Quebec Judge Marc Nadon and won. So what was the good Judge Nadon doing while this was being litigated? That's right folks enjoying the summer at his cottage presumably sitting on his ass during which time he received his full salary which, according to media reports, was slightly over $140,000. How much was Mr. Galati offered? An embarrassing $5,000.
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A word to Federal Court of Canada Judge Russel Zinn;
"Sir, with all due respect my God man did you ever blow this one! Ever heard of taxpayers? Your decision only advances the notion that the judicial system in the words of Rocco Galati is reflective of a privileged world of Versailles under Louis XIV. A system of lawyers, for lawyers and by lawyers in which Judges judge judges, judges protect judges."
The CyberSmokeBlog Solution
Take the $68,000 to pay Rocco Galati's legal expenses from the $140,000 plus Marc Nadon received in taxpayers' money for doing nothing.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Court challenge lawyers to appeal court ruling
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
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Justice Marc Nadon listens to opening remarks as he appears before a parliamentary committee following his nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on October 2, 2013. The lawyers who challenged Nadon's nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada have been rebuffed in a bid to recoup their costs. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
OTTAWA - The Toronto lawyer who led a challenge against Marc Nadon's nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada says he is appealing a Federal Court ruling that denied him the bulk of his legal costs.
Rocco Galati and the Constitutional Rights Centre claimed more than $68,000 in fees and costs for their work in bringing their application before the Federal Court of Canada.
The court instead awarded them a single $5,000 lump sum.
"This judgment is just reflective of a privileged world of Versailles under Louis XIV," Galati fumed Wednesday after learning of the decision.
"It's just an affront to the rule of law."
Galati filed for a total of $51,706.54, while the centre sought $16,769.20 for work done by lawyer Paul Slansky.
Both bills were unwarranted, Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn wrote in his decision.
Zinn said the application challenging the 2013 appointment of Nadon — whose nomination was ultimately rejected in a ruling by the high court itself — would have been complicated and important had it gone ahead.
However, he says it was essentially sidelined by a subsequent governmental reference to the Supreme Court, rendering the cost claims excessive.
"Although the application would have involved complex issues of law and have been of importance to the judicial system and the Constitution of Canada, the application was derailed and supplanted by the reference," Zinn wrote.
"As such, very little work needed to be done on the application by the applicants. The mere filing of it appears to have had the desired result."
The challenge was nonetheless important, the judge acknowledged in awarding the single lump-sum payment.
"At the time the application was filed, there was no apparent objection made to the appointment of Justice Nadon on constitutional grounds by any person or government. To that extent, one could argue that the applicants have done Canada a service and should not be out-of-pocket in so doing."
Galati called the decision "bizarre."
"He says solicitor-client costs, even if not a constitutional right, are only given in the most exceptional and rare cases," he said.
"I can't think of a more exceptional and rare case than the Nadon challenge, can you? In the history of Confederation? I can't think of a rarer case. It's never happened and I doubt if it's going to happen again."
Galati had argued that Nadon, a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, was not eligible to be appointed to one of the three high court seats reserved for Quebec.
The Supreme Court agreed and Nadon's appointment was rescinded, resulting in a year-long vacancy on the high court. Quebec Court of Appeal judge Clement Gascon was appointed in June to fill it.
It's at times like this you realize just how totally ....ed-up the country's judicial system really is as more and taxpayers are discovering. Go figure. Toronto area lawyer Rocco Galati and his Constitutional Rights Centre invested about $68,000 in fighting the Harper government appointment of Quebec Judge Marc Nadon and won. So what was the good Judge Nadon doing while this was being litigated? That's right folks enjoying the summer at his cottage presumably sitting on his ass during which time he received his full salary which, according to media reports, was slightly over $140,000. How much was Mr. Galati offered? An embarrassing $5,000.
"Sir, with all due respect my God man did you ever blow this one! Ever heard of taxpayers? Your decision only advances the notion that the judicial system in the words of Rocco Galati is reflective of a privileged world of Versailles under Louis XIV. A system of lawyers, for lawyers and by lawyers in which Judges judge judges, judges protect judges."
The CyberSmokeBlog Solution
Take the $68,000 to pay Rocco Galati's legal expenses from the $140,000 plus Marc Nadon received in taxpayers' money for doing nothing.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
OTTAWA - The Toronto lawyer who led a challenge against Marc Nadon's nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada says he is appealing a Federal Court ruling that denied him the bulk of his legal costs.
Rocco Galati and the Constitutional Rights Centre claimed more than $68,000 in fees and costs for their work in bringing their application before the Federal Court of Canada.
The court instead awarded them a single $5,000 lump sum.
"This judgment is just reflective of a privileged world of Versailles under Louis XIV," Galati fumed Wednesday after learning of the decision.
"It's just an affront to the rule of law."
Galati filed for a total of $51,706.54, while the centre sought $16,769.20 for work done by lawyer Paul Slansky.
Both bills were unwarranted, Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn wrote in his decision.
Zinn said the application challenging the 2013 appointment of Nadon — whose nomination was ultimately rejected in a ruling by the high court itself — would have been complicated and important had it gone ahead.
However, he says it was essentially sidelined by a subsequent governmental reference to the Supreme Court, rendering the cost claims excessive.
"Although the application would have involved complex issues of law and have been of importance to the judicial system and the Constitution of Canada, the application was derailed and supplanted by the reference," Zinn wrote.
"As such, very little work needed to be done on the application by the applicants. The mere filing of it appears to have had the desired result."
The challenge was nonetheless important, the judge acknowledged in awarding the single lump-sum payment.
"At the time the application was filed, there was no apparent objection made to the appointment of Justice Nadon on constitutional grounds by any person or government. To that extent, one could argue that the applicants have done Canada a service and should not be out-of-pocket in so doing."
Galati called the decision "bizarre."
"He says solicitor-client costs, even if not a constitutional right, are only given in the most exceptional and rare cases," he said.
"I can't think of a more exceptional and rare case than the Nadon challenge, can you? In the history of Confederation? I can't think of a rarer case. It's never happened and I doubt if it's going to happen again."
Galati had argued that Nadon, a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, was not eligible to be appointed to one of the three high court seats reserved for Quebec.
The Supreme Court agreed and Nadon's appointment was rescinded, resulting in a year-long vacancy on the high court. Quebec Court of Appeal judge Clement Gascon was appointed in June to fill it.
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 2:06 PM
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