Wagner appointed Canadian Supreme Court chief justice

OTTAWA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday announced appointment of Quebec-born Justice Richard Wagner to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

"I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead the highest court of Canada, an institution with a long and respected history of judicial independence and excellence. The judiciary, the legal profession, and all Canadians will be well served by his dedication to upholding the laws and Constitution upon which this country is founded," Trudeau said.

Wagner, 60, will take the oath of office on Dec. 18. He was born in Montreal and earned a law degree from the University of Ottawa in 1979.

Wagner, practised law for more than 20 years, focusing on professional liability and on commercial litigation related in particular to real estate law, oppression remedies and class action suits.

As a Quebec Superior Court judge, he sat on several of the court's committees, including the judicial practice committee for training of newly appointed judges. He was named to the Supreme Court by Stephen Harper in 2012.

Wagner is a self-declared advocate of judicial independence, once saying that "the judiciary is only accountable to the person subject to trial."

Last year, Trudeau's government brought in a new Supreme Court appointment process to encourage more openness, transparency and diversity, which also requires high court justices to be functionally bilingual. Enditem