www.manitobacourts.mb.ca

Brief History of the Modern Manitoba Court of Appeal

The Manitoba Court of Appeal was established in 1906.  Prior to that time, a person who wanted to appeal a decision of the trial court would apply to that same court (the Court of King’s Bench), but the appeal would now be heard by a panel of judges of that court. The Chief Justice of the trial court or the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench was also the Chief Justice of Manitoba.  The first Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal (Hector Mansfield Howell) was known as the Chief Justice of Appeal until the time when the Chief Justice of Manitoba (the Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, who was Joseph Dubuc) retired, which was in 1909.

Chief Justice of Appeal Hector Mansfield Howell therefore became Manitoba’s first Chief Justice of Manitoba serving on the Manitoba Court of Appeal and he was Chief Justice of Manitoba until his death in 1918).

The second Chief Justice of Manitoba was William Edgerton Perdue (Chief Justice of Manitoba from May 25, 1918 to December 30, 1929).

The third Chief Justice of Manitoba was James Emile Pierre Prendergast (Chief Justice of Manitoba from December 30, 1929 to March 18, 1944).

Court of Appeal Chief Justices

Source: Dale Brawn, The Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba 1870-1950: A Biographical History (Canada: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 2006)

Information on this page last updated on June 24, 2016