Thomas Cromwell (Canadian jurist)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Albert Cromwell is a Canadian jurist and current Puisne Justice
Puisne Justice
A Puisne Justice or Puisne Judge is the title for a regular member of a Court. This is distinguished from the head of the Court who is known as the Chief Justice or Chief Judge. The term is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions such as England, Australia, Kenya, Canada, Sri Lanka,...

 on the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

. On September 5, 2008, Cromwell was nominated to succeed Michel Bastarache
Michel Bastarache
J. E. Michel Bastarache is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and retired puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada....

 on the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

. On December 22, 2008, Cromwell was officially appointed to the court.

Cromwell was born in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, remaining there to attend Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

 where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1973 and a law degree in 1976. He then earned a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 in 1977. He also earned an ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1974.

He practised law in Kingston from 1979 to 1982 and was a sessional lecturer in civil procedure
Civil procedure
Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits...

 at the Queen's Law School from 1980 to 1982. He was a professor of law at Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...

 from 1982 to 1992 and again from 1995 to 1997; between these two periods he was Executive Legal Officer in the chambers of then-Chief Justice of Canada
Chief Justice of Canada
The Chief Justice of Canada, like the eight puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, is appointed by the Governor-in-Council . All nine are chosen from either sitting judges or barristers who have at least ten years' standing at the bar of a province or territory...

 Antonio Lamer
Antonio Lamer
Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer, PC, CC, CD was a Canadian lawyer, jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.-Personal life:...

. In 1997, Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

 appointed him to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia is the highest appeal court in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. There are currently seven Justices and one Chief Justice. The court sits in Halifax, which is the capital of Nova Scotia...

as a direct appointment (meaning he did not serve on a lower court).

When announcing the nomination, Harper stated that Cromwell would not be appointed to the bench until he had answered questions from an ad hoc all-party committee of the House of Commons. However, this process was bypassed when Cromwell was officially appointed; Prime Minister Harper had expressed concern that waiting for the committee to meet would render the court hobbled in executing "its vital constitutional mandate effectively." However, Parliament wound up meeting only very seldom after Cromwell's initial nomination, mainly because of a federal election called by Harper for October 14, and then the subsequent proroguing of Parliament on December 4, until its scheduled resumption on January 26, 2009.
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