Sanctus – Secretary for Justice Noah Cameron this morning announced that the Government would be nominating Judge Édouard Blanc of the Court of Appeals for the Western Riding to fill the vacant Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court. Should he be confirmed by the Senate, Blanc would fill the seat last held by long-serving Associate Justice Joyce Keenahan who died in September at the age of 81.
According to the press release issued by the Department of Justice, Blanc has served as a judge on the Western Riding since its foundation in 2019 post-federalisation. Prior to this, he was a judge in the district and circuit courts in Galvium. A francophone, Blanc attended the Université de droit de Nicée where he graduated top of his class. As a lawyer and advocate working in family law, Blanc almost exclusively represented the French-speaking population of Galvium, and in particular Nicene in matters relating to child custody agreements, wills and probate, and divorce and separations. Though both are fluent in English, Blanc would join Associate Justice Jean-Claude Steele as a predominately French speaker on the Supreme Court should his nomination go as the Government plans.
In his 50s, and with almost a decade of jurisprudence available for reference and review, it is not expected that Blanc’s nomination will be a particularly testy or controversial one. Sources close to both Chancellor Greer and Secretary Cameron have indicated that “his history will show he is a measured, objective, and middle-of-the-road jurist” who will not disrupt the current workings of the Supreme Court bench. They also explain that his history in working with family law will also fill help the gap left by the death of Keenahan, who was widely considered the country’s foremost expert on child law.
At time of publication, Blanc has not returned calls to this paper on the topic of his nomination. When called, his office directs journalists to the office of the Secretary of State for Justice & Equality as “Blanc is a working judge on the Western Riding and does not, as a matter of course, respond to journalistic enquiries in order to maintain the independence and objectivity of the judiciary”, according to his secretarial staff.
With the Senate firmly under Democratic Left control, it is expected that the confirmation hearings will be scheduled swiftly, with the intention Blanc is in seat before the month is out.
LOUISA SOUTER, Crime & Justice Correspondent
