Dear Editor:
I am writing with respect to your recent editorial: Let's distinguish between victim and villain, Burnaby NOW, Dec. 30. I believe that the people of British Columbia expect a justice system that is effective and fair, but they also expect us to find efficiencies and new ways of doing things.
Firstly, with respect to resources, we are investing in new court administration staff and new deputy sheriffs, with a class of 34 graduating in November of this year and a new class beginning in a couple of weeks.
Furthermore, we have appointed 14 new judges in the last two years and will continue to do so where appropriate. Additionally, we continue to invest in legal aid and recently announced an increase in funding to a total of $68.6 million, to assist families with emergency family law matters.
But it's simply not just a matter of adding more money to the system, it's also about pursuing new technologies and innovations to streamline court procedures.
We passed the new Family Law Act this session, which will encourage families to move disputes out of the courtroom, and we committed in the throne speech to take traffic fine violation disputes out of the court to move towards a more efficient process.
We also introduced legislation this session to accommodate and provide flexibility for the use of senior part-time judges to meet urgent and unforeseen circumstances, such as additional sittings due to illness or injury to full-time judges.
I do agree that any delays or stays of proceeding are not ideal, but I should note that these can be related to many factors, including the complexity and volume of evidence introduced in individual cases.
We will continue to work hard to find additional resources for our justice system. But we will also continue to look for new ways of doing business, so that we can find efficiencies, increase capacity and ultimately ensure we have a fair and effective justice system.
Shirley Bond, Attorney General and Solicitor General
