Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia.

The Court comprises a Chief Justice, the Associate Chief justice, twenty-one judges and six supernumerary (or semiretired) Justices, who sit in 18 different locations around the province.

Jurisdiction

As with all superior courts across the country, the court is said to have inherent jurisdiction. It hears civil and criminal trials. The criminal trials can be judge alone or judge and jury. The court will also hear appeals from the provincial court, small claims court, Family court, and various provincial tribunals.

Appeals of Supreme Court decisions are then made to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

History

1st Chief Justice Jonathan Belcher by John Singleton Copley (1754), Court Room 4, Nova Scotia Supreme Court

While the first court administering the Common Law was established in Annapolis Royal in 1721, the creation of a Supreme Court took place on October 21, 1754, several years before the Province was granted a legislative assembly. The court is the oldest court in Canada and is among the oldest in North America.

Jonathan Belcher was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. The court’s jurisdiction extended to the entire colony, which, after the Treaty of Paris ended the war with France in 1763, includes present day Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and eastern Maine.

In 1990, on the recommendation of the Nova Scotia Court Structure Task Force, the County and Supreme courts were merged to create a bench of 25 judges at the trial level. Since 1999, the Supreme Court also administers the Nova Scotia Family Division Court, with eight judges, that has jurisdiction over divorces and other family law cases in the Halifax and industrial Cape Breton.

Supreme Court Family Division

The Supreme Court includes the Family Division which adjudicates matters of family law in the regions of Halifax and Cape Breton. As Supreme Court Justices, they have authority over both divorce as well as all other family law matters, unlike their provincial court counterparts who do not have the federal authority to adjudicate divorces.

Judges of the Supreme Court

Position	Name	Location	Date appointed
Chief Justice	Joseph Phillip Kennedy	Halifax	1997 (SC) and 1998 (CJ)
Associate Chief Justice	Deborah K. Smith	Halifax	2001 (SC) and 2004 (ACJ)
Justice	Allan Boudreau	Halifax, Nova Scotia	1990
Justice	James L. Chipman	Halifax	2013
Justice	Felix A. Cacchione (supernumerary)	Halifax	1993
Justice	Pierre L. Muise	Yarmouth	2010
Justice	Kevin Coady	Halifax	2003
Justice	C. Richard Coughlan	Bridgewater	2001
Justice	Patrick J. Duncan	Halifax	2007
Justice	Frank C. Edwards	Sydney	1993
Justice	Jeffrey R. Hunt	Truro	2015
Justice	Suzanne M. Hood	Halifax	1995
Justice	Arthur J. LeBlanc	Halifax	1998
Justice	A. David MacAdam	Halifax	1992
Justice	Simon J. MacDonald	Sydney	1993
Justice	Joshua M. Arnold	Halifax	2013
Justice	Glen G. McDougall	Halifax	2001
Justice	Gerald R.P. Moir	Halifax	1997
Justice	John D. Murphy	Halifax	2001
Justice	Patrick Murray	Sydney	2010
Justice	Arthur W. D. Pickup	Halifax	2002
Justice	M. Heather Robertson	Halifax	1998
Justice	Robin C. M. Gogan	Sydney	2013
Justice	N.M. (Nick) Scaravelli	Pictou/Antigonish	2006
Justice	Margaret Stewart (supernumerary)	Bridgewater	1992
Justice	Gregory M. Warner	Kentville
Justice	Michael Wood	Halifax	2011

Supernumerary

Justice Claire M. MacLellan

Past Justices

Name	Date appointed	Date retired
Duncan Beveridge	2008	2009
Robert W. Wright		2013

Judges of the Supreme Court Family Division

Position	Name	Location
Associate Chief Justice	Lawrence I. O'Neil
Justice	Douglas C. Campbell	Halifax
Justice	Leslie J. Dellapinna	Halifax
Justice	Theresa M. Forgeron	Sydney
Justice	Deborah Gass	Halifax
Justice	Kenneth Haley	Sydney
Justice	Elizabeth Jollimore	Halifax
Justice	Moira C. Legere-Sers	Halifax
Justice	Mona Lynch	Halifax
Justice	Beryl A. MacDonald	Halifax
Justice	Robert M Gregan	Sydney
Justice	Robert Ferguson	Halifax
Justice	R. James Williams	Halifax
Justice	Darryl W. Wilson	Sydney

External links

• Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Official Website