Exit Stage Left: Modelling Judicial Exits inCanada and Australia

Abstract

Given the prestige and job security attached to the position of supreme court justice, it is puzzling that these judges ever choose to vacate their seats on a voluntary basis. Using career data drawn from the Canadian Supreme and Australian High Courts, we examine which factors: personal, institutional, and political, are the most influential when determining voluntary judicial resignations at the highest level. We estimate a competing risks Cox proportional hazards model of judicial tenure to test hypotheses that personal factors (health, family) and institutional factors (satisfaction, workload) are the strongest determinants of various forms of voluntary exit in these two Westminster systems.