Civil lawyer advocates for more court masters

Wait time for many cases going to the court’s ‘front line’ now stretches past 13 months — up from three or four months

An Edmonton lawyer is calling on the province to hire additional masters in chambers to help tackle delays in civil court.

Masters in chambers are appointed by the province to work in the Court of Queen’s Bench, and deal mainly with civil law matters. Although they are able to complete some of the same actions as a judge, they can’t hear live witness evidence.

But masters are the “front line” for the court, and do a massive amount of procedural work that prepares cases for trial, civil litigator Avnish Nanda said.

“Without them, nothing would happen,” said Nanda, who launched a campaign this month urging the province to create additional masters in chambers positions to help combat court delays.

The matters masters handle include maintenance enforcement, foreclosures, bankruptcy, residential tenancy disputes and builder’s liens.

“They’re a big deal. They have real, significant power,” he said. “The public isn’t aware of how critical masters are for the administration of justice in this office.”

Over the past few years, the wait time for a special chambers hearing that will take longer than 20 minutes has crept up to more than 13 months from three or four months, Nanda said.

As more work gets sent their way, the masters have made procedural changes to try to keep up, but there’s a limit to what the current number of masters can do, Nanda said.

There are 11 masters provincewide, six based in Calgary and five in Edmonton. One of the senior masters recently went halftime, so the province added the fifth master position in Edmonton, responding to a request made by the Court of Queen’s Bench, court spokeswoman Michelle Somers said in an emailed statement.

The master in chambers position was paid $294,000 annually at the end of March 2017.

Unlike the Court of Queen’s Bench justices, who are appointed by the federal government, the province is responsible for filling masters in chambers positions.

Somers said the court is also concerned about delays, and is continuing to work on strategies to shorten wait times.

Nanda said the minister of justice’s office has reached out to meet with him to discuss the issue, which spokeswoman Veronica Jubinville confirmed.

“Providing a fair and efficient justice system is a priority for our government and we remain committed to ensuring Alberta’s courts have appropriate resources,” Jubinville said in an emailed statement.