[JURIST] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [official profile] on Tuesday announced [press release] a new process for selecting Supreme Court justices that will allow all qualified individuals to apply for the position. Trudeau stated that, “[f]or the first time, any qualified Canadian lawyer or judge may apply for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada through the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.” Those applications will be reviewed by a seven-member Advisory Board that will be chaired by former prime minister Kim Campbell, and four of the members will be appointed by “independent professional organizations.” The questionnaire administered to candidates will also be made public.

Trudeau’s administration has introduced a number of changes. In May Trudeau introduced [JURIST report] legislation that would ban transgender discrimination, including it within Canada’s hate crime laws. Also in May Canada’s Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett said that it would drop [JURIST report] its objector status against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In April a long-awaited bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide was introduced [JURIST report] before the Parliament of Canada and is now awaiting passage through the House of Commons and the Senate.