Exchequer Court of Canada

Exchequer Court of Canada
Cour de la Échiquier du Canada
Exchequer Court of Canada ; Cour de la Échiquier du Canada
	Old Supreme Court building, which also housed the Exchequer Court
Established	April 8, 1875
Dissolved	June 1, 1971
Jurisdiction	Canada
Location	Ottawa, Ontario, but also sat in other locations across Canada
Composition method	Appointed by the Governor General of Canada, on advice of the Cabinet of Canada
Authorized by	Constitution Act, 1867 and Supreme and Exchequer Court Act (1875)
Appeals to	Supreme Court of Canada; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council;
Appeals from	Official arbitrators; Local judges in admiralty;
Judge term length	1875 to 1927: Life tenure; 1927 to 1971: Mandatory retirement at age 75;
Number of positions	1875 to 1887: Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada exercised duties of Exchequer Court; 1887 to 1912: One judge; 1912 to 1920: One judge and one assistant judge; 1920 to 1971: President and one puisne judge; gradual expansion to the president and seven puisne judges;
Language	English and French
Type of tribunal	Law and equity; federal revenue issues

The Exchequer Court of Canada was a federal court of Canada which existed from 1875 to 1971. A superior court, its jurisdiction primarily related to civil actions involving the federal government and federal tax and revenue matters. It also had jurisdiction involving private parties in areas of law within federal jurisdiction, such as admiralty law, a limited insolvency jurisdiction, intellectual property law, and a limited divorce jurisdiction. Although based in Ottawa, the court heard cases across the country, with the judges travelling to different centres where cases arose.

Parliament created the Exchequer Court in 1875, in the same statute which created the Supreme Court of Canada: The Supreme and Exchequer Court Act. Originally, there were no separate judges appointed to the Exchequer Court; the judges of the Supreme Court were also the judges of the Exchequer Court. George Burbidge was the first person appointed solely as a judge of the Exchequer Court, in 1887. Parliament authorised the appointment of an assistant judge in 1912, and in 1920 created the position of President of the Exchequer Court. By 1971, the Court consisted of the president and seven judges.

In 1971, Parliament passed a major restructuring act, the Federal Court Act, which continued the Exchequer Court as the Federal Court of Canada. The new court consisted of two divisions, the trial division and the appellate division, with an expanded jurisdiction and a greater number of judges.