Federal Judiciary (Canada)

The Federal Judiciary (French: Magistrature fédérale) is the constitutional term for the collective system of courts, tribunals, and related professions at the level of the Canadian federal government, as distinguished from the provincial and territorial judiciaries as well as Ottawa's non-federal Metropolitan Judiciary.

The highest court of the Federal Judiciary is the Supreme Court of Canada, followed by the Federal Court of Appeals. The Constitutional Court of Canada could be invoked at the will of the Supreme Court, but was not in and of itself a permanent institution. Similarly, legal matters of federal jurisdiction considered too insignificant to warrant a trial in the federal courts of Ottawa are typically settled by Supreme Court of Canada-sanctioned tribunals, which usually take place outside of Ottawa where the offence allegedly took place.

While Canada's Criminal Code was passed by the Parliament of Canada, and all further amendments, repeals or other changes to criminal law must proceed at the federal level, at least in the legislative realm, the vast majority of actual enforcement of the singular Criminal Code is the responsibility of the provinces and territories. Each province and territory has a supreme court and appellate court of its own, as well as a number of district courts which hear most criminal and civil trials, each district court responsible for a particular geographical area called a judicial district).