The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50831
"To be told on Monday morning when they think their trial is going to start that we don't have a judge for you, you'll have to reschedule the trial for another six months or something down the road is frustrating for everybody, as well as expensive." —CHIEF JUSTICE DONALD BRENNER, B.C. SUPREME COURT trial for Superior Court cases has never been faster since 1987, the year he was called to the bar. "If I want a five-day trial today in Toronto I can have it in June . . . three months, not bad, not bad at all," says Morton. "I can't think of a time since I've been called where it has been faster than that, and I can think of a lot of times when it has been five times that." The shortened time to trial is in part due to the ability and relative speed at which Superior Court justices are being appointed in Ontario. That and the quality of lawyers ascending to the bench is to the credit of Nicholson, and his predecessor Vic Toews, says Morton. "The judicial appointment process that has been implemented and followed by this government has been very good. They have really taken the appointment of judges seriously and they've done it and you can't complain about that." The news however is not as rosy in British Columbia. None of the 20 appointments announced by the feds last June went to B.C. and a shortfall of five judges as of March has meant the province has been forced to can- cel trials due to a lack of judges. Two months ago, B.C. had superior court judicial vacancies in Prince Rupert, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Vancouver, and New Westminster. The cancelled trials have run the gamut says B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Brenner. He says there were 20 trial cancel- lations due to a lack of judges in 2007. That number increased to 52 in 2008. He says bumping — the cancelling of a trial that could then not be scheduled within a few days — in 2009 is on pace to equal 2008. "The fact that we don't have the vacant positions filled is obvi- ously why we can't provide judges," says Brenner. "Going back historically, and Martins related (CL 1-3sq).indd 1 when I say historically I mean 10 or 15 years ago, we did have a serious bump- ing problem in our courts, we were hav- ing to send litigants away." The court worked at alleviating the bumping problem and unlike some of his provincial counterparts, Brenner did not request an increase in the number of Supreme Court justices for B.C., which has not changed since 1992. Brenner notes, however, increasing the number of potential vacancies is not the issue, filling the current vacancies is. "I believe we can manage the court with the exist- ing complement," he says. "I have not asked this government or any of the previous governments for an increase in the nine years that I have been chief justice. I believe we can deal with our workload if we are at full strength." While Brenner is certain the court can manage its workload, what seems less certain is the reason why there are still openings that have not been filled — B.C. accounts for a quarter of the 20 superior court vacancies in Canada. There had been some discussion in the media that it was because B.C. had not appointed an independent judicial advi- sory committee. Such committees assess the qualifications of lawyers applying for positions on federally appointed Martin's Related Criminal Statutes, 2009-2010 Edition With annotations by Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C. and The Honourable Justice Marc Rosenberg, Court of Appeal for Ontario A winning combination: Tried, Trusted and True! Martin's Related Criminal Statutes, 2009-2010 Edition is fully annotated by two of Canada's preeminent authorities on criminal law. It includes updated non-Criminal Code statutes and related case law. This latest edition provides annotations for 24 statutes, plus more than 2,400 annotations using all relevant reported and unreported decisions delivered before January 2009. Available electronically on CRIMINAL SPECTRUM ORDER your copy today Hardbound • Published May each year 1,488 pp. • Standing order • $100 P/C 0637140000 • Current edition only • $105 P/C 0637010000 • ISSN 0710-1805 canadalawbook.ca MERGING TRADITION WITH TECHNOLOGY For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.263.2037 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. CL0409 Martin's www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2009 39 4/2/09 2:47:41 PM Greenspan, Rosenberg,