The appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is a modern political event as vacancies happen rarely. Executives relish the thought of appointing a member of the highest court and thus helping to shape its future direction. Less clear are the calculations of the justice to retire in the first place. The ability of an executive to appoint who they want depends upon the number of veto players in the system and whether at any given time those veto players share the policy preferences of the executive. The preferences of the other judges, specifically the position of the median voter in a Supreme Court relative to the position of the retiring judge is also important. These facts should also impinge upon justices retirement decisions along with other factors such as job satisfaction and other career opportunities. Using data from 1970-2013, this paper provides both theoretical and empirical evidence of judicial retirement in three countries: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
