Judicial Independence Day Act

Bill S-219, the Judicial Independence Day Act, is a short, symbolic piece of legislation. Its only substantive effect is to officially designate January 11th of every year as "Judicial Independence Day" across Canada.

The bill does not create a public holiday, does not require any government offices, courts, or businesses to close, and imposes no new legal obligations on anyone. It simply gives formal recognition to this date on the calendar as a day to draw attention to the importance of an independent judiciary.

The preamble explains the reasoning behind the choice of date: January 11th marks the anniversary of the 2020 "1,000 Robes March" in Warsaw, Poland, where thousands of people, including many judges from across Europe, protested against political interference with judicial independence in Poland. The bill notes that Parliament wants to draw public attention to ongoing threats to judicial independence in various countries around the world, and that an international judges' association had asked the United Nations to commemorate that march.

This bill designates January 11th of each year as "Judicial Independence Day" across Canada, and creates no new powers or duties.