Judges pay cut might help with shortages

writen in July 28th, 2011 edition
Kamloops Daily News
by Robert Koopmans


COURT NOTES

Judges' pay cutmight help with (court) shortages

There's much ado these days about the lack of court resources, and how shortages of clerks, sheriffs, Crown lawyers and judges impact our right to timely justice.

In Kamloops, courtrooms are closing. Just the other day two courtrooms merged into one because there were not enough court clerks. Clearly, B.C.'s justice system is struggling through a financial crisis. What area of government isn't?

Judges lately have taken to criticizing government for the lack of resources. Not long ago a Kamloops judge denounced staff shortages while staying impaired driving charges in a case that had stretched out far too long.

Ironically, however, judges are part of the problem. Why? They are extremely expensive civil servants, and the way their salaries are determined ensures their compensation

Provincial court judges in B.C. make about $235,000 a year, while B.C. Supreme Court justices earn roughly $280,000. Federal judges are guaranteed wage increases equal to the cost of living, typically around one to three per cent per year.

Provincial judges want more pay equity with federal judges and continually push to close the gap. B.C.'s prosecutor salaries are directly tied to judges' salaries. As a result, the bill for the top end of justice services must always grow.

The argument for big judicial salaries suggests such money is needed to attract the best legal minds from the pool of lawyers but at the pace judicial salaries are rising, such an argument starts to run thin.

The average lawyer in B.C. makes about $100,000 a year, according to the stats. Yes, some lawyers make more - perhaps even much more - but not many. Judge's salaries have been powerfully attractive to lawyers for quite some time. As a further perk, judges don't have to manage offices, billings, bills, collections and other expenses.

Compare judges to other publicly funded professions. B.C. MLAs earn about $101,000 a year. The premier makes about $190,000. Federal MPs earn about $160,000, while Canada's prime minister earns $317,000.

We have only one Prime Minister. There are hundreds of federal judges in Canada, all of them earning nearly the same amount. Not far off, all those judges will make more than Stephen Harper...

Family doctors In B.C. bill the government an average of about $232,000 gross a year, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Specialists in B.C. gross bill on average about $308,000 per year. They must still pay their operational expenses, making personal earnings much less.

Do judges need to make so much more than everyone else?

If judges in B.C. want to make a meaningful contribution to the shortage of justice resources, here's a suggestion: volunteer a pay cut.

If each provincial court judge took a 20-per-cent cut - still an annual salary of more than $190,000 - the province could make up on many of those missing clerks and sheriffs and keep more courtrooms open.

As justice-system and community leaders, surely they can recognize the issue and make a sacrifice, with public service in mind.



Robert Koopmans covers the courts for The Daily News. He can be reached at
250-372-2331, or by email: rkoopmans@kamloopsnews.ca