National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2016 Version 1.1
- 4 - Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services
- 41 - Professional occupations in law and social, community and government services
- 411 - Judges, lawyers and Quebec notaries
4111 - Judges
Judges adjudicate civil and criminal cases and administer justice in courts of law. Judges preside over federal and provincial courts.
Illustrative example(s)
- chief justice
- county court judge
- Court of Queen's Bench justice
- district court judge
- family court judge
- federal trial court justice
- provincial court of appeal justice
- small claims court judge
- superior court justice
- Supreme Court justice
Exclusion(s)
- Administrative tribunal judges (See 0411 Government managers - health and social policy development and program administration)
- Citizenship court judges (See 1227 Court officers and justices of the peace)
- Justices of the peace (See 1227 Court officers and justices of the peace)
Main duties
Judges perform some or all of the following duties:
- Preside over courts of law, interpret and enforce rules of procedure and make rulings regarding the admissibility of evidence
- Instruct the jury on laws that are applicable to the case
- Weigh and consider evidence in non-jury trials and decide legal guilt or innocence or degree of liability of the accused or defendant
- Pass sentence on persons convicted in criminal cases and determine damages or other appropriate remedy in civil cases
- Grant divorces and divide assets between spouses
- Determine custody of children between contesting parents and other guardians
- Enforce court orders for access or support
- Supervise other judges and court officers.
Judges may specialize in particular areas of law such as civil, criminal or family law.
Employment requirements
- Extensive experience as a lawyer or as a professor of law with continuous membership in the bar association is usually required.
- Membership in good standing with a provincial or territorial law society or bar association is required.
- Judges are appointed by federal or provincial cabinets.
- Those appointed to more senior positions in a court, such as chief justice, usually have experience as judges in that court.
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