Shortage of judges leading to ‘burnout’
B.C. Supreme Court chief justice voices frustration over impact of vacancies on legal system
B.C.’s top trial court judge has expressed frustration at the chronic shortage of judges on the B.C. Supreme Court arising from delays in judicial appointments being made by the federal Liberal government.
In a rare interview with reporters Thursday, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson said that at the time of the 2015 election that brought the Liberals to power, B.C. had six vacancies on the court, the Harper government having pretty much filled up federal judicial vacancies elsewhere in the country.
Since the Liberals came to power, there have been as many as 14 vacancies on the B.C. Supreme Court as the government put in place a new appointments process to increase diversity in Canadian courts.
Currently there are nine vacancies on the B.C. court according to Ottawa, with Hinkson arguing that the actual number is 10.
“We’re down 10 per cent of the court,” said Hinkson, speaking at his judges chambers in Vancouver.
“It has gone on too long. It is impacting our ability to schedule cases and long chambers hearings. We have cut down the number of cases we permit to be booked and we’re booking them about 18 months ahead of time for a case of any length.”
Hinkson said he has cut down the number of cases being booked because they’ve had to “bounce” so many cases and so many applications.
“I’m not prepared to continue to reduce the bookings we accept because we have vacancies. There’s a reason the legislation provides for the number of judges that we have in this province.”
He said Alberta, that currently has 13 vacancies, has been told by federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould that they will see the number of new positions on their superior court increased by nine this year while B.C. will get no increase to its complement of judges.
Hinkson said he had anticipated that they might get five new positions this year.
He said he understands that nine candidates have been approved by a B.C. committee that screens judicial applications and sends the recommendations to the minister.
He said he’s sure there are reasons why some candidates who might be attractive to him are not attractive to the minister and respects that she makes the final call.
“But I am very frustrated in having to tell litigants that they can’t have a judge or they can’t have a (hearing) date because we’ve had to cut back so far because the court is understaffed.”
The Chief Justice said he had held off discussing the issue with the media but decided the shortage had gone on too long.
The impact has caused “some real burnout” for judges remaining on the B.C. Supreme Court as the number of working hours has increased, he added.
In a statement released by her office, Wilson-Raybould said she was committed to ensuring that the most meritorious jurists were appointed to meet the needs of British Columbians and all Canadians.
She said she’d made a total of 100 appointments in Canada in 2017, the most by any Justice Minister in over two decades and since becoming the minister has made a total of 151 judicial appointments.
Of the nine current vacancies in B.C., seven have arisen since August 2017, she said, adding that she’d made 23 appointments and elevations to date in B.C. — including 18 since April 2017.
“My office and I have been working closely with the Chief Justices in British Columbia to fill vacancies created by the spike in retirements and supernumerary elections,” said the minister.
“With the benefit of their advice, as well as the hard work of the B.C. Judicial Advisory Committee, I expect to make new appointments in short order.”
As for Hinkson’s comments regarding the size of the judicial complement in B.C., Wilson-Raybould said she’d received no request for new positions in B.C. since she assumed her position in 2015.