A bit nervous, a bit overwhelmed, but mostly happy and excited:" two years after returning from Nunavut, Queens Legal Aid Director Susan Charlesworth, Law81, is making a return ... as a federal justice.
Charlesworth Justice Charlesworth was appointed to the bench on June 21 alongside fellow Queens Law graduate Christian Lyons, Law02. Its a role that her time at Queens Legal Aid has made her distinctly well suited for, thanks to Nunavuts distinctive court structure. Unlike most jurisdictions in Canada, in Nunavut there is only one level of court: the , she explains.
Judges do everything normally divided into two or more courts. In Nunavut, the one court and its justices do everything. I will be looking at cases ranging from theft with a guilty plea to murder requiring a jury trial, from family law and estates to constitutional issues.
This breadth of scope and judgment is something that years of work supervising law students at has prepared Charlesworth for. I love criminal law, but my job here has really prepared me for this role, she says. As the Director of Queens Legal Aid, I work with law students on files ranging from landlord-tenant issues to small claims court, traffic matters an entire gamut of issues that will have relevance. This ability to accumulate a wide variety of experience and expertise while working with students and the public in a pro bono context will definitely be a benefit.
The call to the bench came not entirely unexpectedly, but was still in some ways abrupt. I got a call earlier in June about CSIS security clearance, which gave me an inkling," she says. "I got the call at 3:30 on Thursday afternoon. They told me I was a judge the order had been signed that morning. Thats how it happens. They dont ask are you sure?'
The announcement has left Charlesworth happy, stepping back from her role (As an appointed judge, I cant provide legal advice, so wrapping up at Queens Legal Aid is a challenge) and looking forward to the next stage of a journey that began in 2013 with a first trip to the north and now, almost five years later, returning to help shape its judicial future.
This story originally appeared on the .
