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EDITOR'S DESK BY GAIL J. COHEN Sound advice not pressured by third parties to appoint judges to the Court of Quebec. Most coverage of the report centred on how it essentially cleared Premier Jean Charest of influence peddling. Bellemare, the next day, was already claiming Bastarache was biased and that the report should have laid some blame on Charest's shoulders. The political fallout from the report and its impact on Charest and the Quebec Liberal Party's fortunes remain to be seen. But whether you agree or disagree with the conclusions regarding the influence, or lack there- F of, of political bagmen on the appointment of judges, Bastarache's report went on to discuss and address the real problems inherent in the judicial appointments process in the province. For a start, he said the process lacks transparency at all steps and is also fairly inefficient, with sometimes hundreds of candidates interviewed for a single opening. "The evidence reveals that there are no standards governing the operation of the selection committees. The choice of mem- bers of the public to sit on selection committees is not subject to any guidelines, nor is any training provided for them. The information asked of the candidates has not been standardized. Concerns regarding the confidentiality of the selection committees' reports have also been raised." The second stage, Bastarache noted, is particularly "vulnerable to all manner of interventions and influence." Even though the $6-million commission didn't provide a magic pill for either Charest or Bellemare, the money was not totally wasted if the province puts into play some of the 25 recom- mendations offered up by Bastarache to improve the process for selecting judges for Quebec's provincial and municipal courts. They include: • Create a secretariat for judicial selection and appointment that does not answer to the Department of Justice. • Include members of the public on the judicial selection committee. • Create a standing selection committee. • Train members of the standing selection committee on interviewing techniques, criteria for evaluating applications, the structure of the courts, and the judicial function. • Standardize the application process as well as the criteria for evaluating candidates. • Establish a pre-selection mechanism to limit the number of candidates for each position to 15. • The selection committee should provide three names to the Justice minister for consideration. Bastarache also gave a series of further recommendations as to what should happen once the minister has the list from the selection committee. Importantly, he said whether the premier is involved in the final decision or not, there should be strict limits on the role played by political staff and no debate on it by the cabinet. You can't really argue with any of those suggestions. ormer Quebec Justice minister Marc Bellemare did not hear what he wanted to in the report from Michel Bastarache into the appointment of judges in Quebec. In his report released Jan. 16, the former Supreme Court of Canada judge concluded that Bellemare was THIS MONTH EXCLUSIVELY ON CANADIAN Lawye rmag.com Career Path Legal recruiter Danya Cohen helps young lawyers navigate treacherous career waters. February 14 Human Rights . . . Here & Th ere University of Ottawa law school's Sonya Nigam's column on human rights and international law. February 14 Trials & Tribulations New columnist Margaret Waddell ruminates on issues of import to litigators. February 14 Th e IT Girl Sarah Dale-Harris takes a wry look at the intersection of technology and the law. February 21 David Paul's Field Notes Tips for the solo and small fi rm practitioner from David Paul. February 21 Defi nitely Mabey Stephen Mabey examines the thorny issues facing law fi rm management. February 21 Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer Editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen Staff Writer: Robert Todd Copy Editor: Heather Gardiner Art Director: Bill Hunter Account Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles Contributors: Jean Sorensen, donalee Moulton, Diane Cook, Kathryn Leger Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 (905) 841-6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information pre- sented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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