Saskatchewan chief justice to step down in August

Saskatchewan’s chief justice is stepping down.

Justice Robert G. Richards announced Friday he’ll be leaving his job as the province’s chief justice and as a judge of the Court of Appeal as of Aug. 31.

“It has been both an honour and a great privilege to serve the people of Saskatchewan as a member of the Court and as the Chief Justice of my province,” Richards said in his resignation letter.

Richards was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2004 and as the province’s chief justice in 2013.

He studied law at the University of Saskatchewan and at Harvard Law School. Before becoming a judge, Richards was a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada, served as director of constitutional law in the Saskatchewan Department of Justice, and was a partner in the law firm now known as MLT Aikins.