(Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
One of the fun experiences during our December getaway to Ottawa was a guided tour of the Supreme Court of Canada. As a lawyer, of course, this was the ultimate career-related tour for me. Other than a visit to the Federal Court of Appeal (housed in the same building) twenty years ago as a law student with one of my professors, I had never been to the Supreme Court.
You cannot just show up for guided Supreme Court tours but it is possible to book them online. Perhaps because of the raging and long-awaited blizzard on December 29, our tour consisted of just the two of us and our guide. I think he enjoyed providing a bit more detail than he would normally provide to non-lawyers.
The building looks very severe from the outside (see snowy photo at the top of this blog – it’s also a colour photograph!), reflecting the rationality that is necessarily part of the Supreme Court’s role. Despite a huge foyer and impressive staircases, the Supreme Court courtroom is actually not that large. I have been in larger local courtrooms, although not quite as plush. Of course, the Supreme Court does not require space for jurors or witnesses: proceedings here are appeals from lower courts and do not require new testimony. The appeals are relatively technical and free from the unpredictability of live witnesses.
Even in front of one judge, presenting legal arguments can be somewhat intimidating. Imagine presenting to a panel of 9 judges! I stood at the lectern and was surprised by how close the judges would be in “real life”. While some hearings are handled by “only” 5 or 7 judges, a lawyer at the Supreme Court is still trying to make very precise and subtle arguments to a lot of very brilliant minds. Their time is very valuable and you cannot waste it with irrelevancies. Not only that, but they are also able to communicate with each other during the course of the hearing. Yes, they have “chat” capability on their computers! This allows them to focus even more on the most important issues.
We also spent some time in the Federal Court of Appeal, where a panel is typically composed of three judges. This portion of the tour is a little more informal and tour participants can even be photographed on the judges’ bench wearing supplied “judge robes” (which were, in this case, identical to my own legal robes). We decided to take advantage of the opportunity!
You do not need to be on a guided tour to observe proceedings in the Federal Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada. It is possible to just show up and watch: even these highest levels of our court system are open to the public, subject to spectator capacity, security checks and respectful behaviour. Hearings are also streamed over the Internet. However, unlike trials with live witnesses, the Supreme Court drama lies in the intellectual challenge and the broader impacts of the decisions on society.
My next blog entry will have more on our wintry trip to Ottawa!