B.C. judges take provincial government to court

CBC News 

Posted: Oct 14, 2011 6:06 AM PT 

Last Updated: Oct 14, 2011 1:27 PM PT 

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DOCUMENT: Judges' lawsuit (PDF)

Provincial court judges are taking the B.C. government to court, arguing that the provincial government was irrational and unreasonable when it denied them a pay raise that wouldn't even come into effect for another 18 months.

A Judges Compensation Commission reported back to government last year, recommending a salary increase in April 2013 equivalent to the increase in the cost of living in B.C. since April 2010, along with some pension plan improvements.

The government rejected the recommendation, saying that because other civil servants’ compensation was tied to judges’ salaries, it would be too expensive.

According to a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the judges argue that the province’s rejection was unreasonable.

The judges say that the government policy of holding back wage increases across the board shouldn't apply to them because they're not public sector employees, but are an independent branch of government.

The judges also point to an ever-increasing workload and a salary gap between themselves and their counterparts in the B.C. Supreme Court.

The government argued in May that provincial court judges in the last several years had received significant increases in salary — rising by more than 40 per cent to $231,138 in 2010 from $161,250 in 2004.

As of May 2010, there were 111 full-time and 35 part-time provincial court judges in 88 communities throughout B.C.

The provincial government hasn't filed a statement of defence to the legal action, which was filed with the court on Wednesday.

But at the legislature in Victoria on Friday, B.C. Attorney General Shirley Bond said she's disappointed provincial judges are suing her ministry, but the government will be vigorously defending itself against this lawsuit.

"The rationale that the government had for rejecting the recommendation is clearly outlined in Hansard. It was debated publicly in the legislature, so I'm disappointed. But obviously as a matter before the courts, I can't discuss the specifics of what the discussion will be before the courts," she said.

With files from the CBC's Ben Hadaway

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

One small paper talking about the court system

Justice System Won't Be Fixed With Only Money
July 26th, 2011 | Doug Collins



Our justice system is like our health care system - it's not going to be fixed by simply throwing more money at it. Critics are suggesting the appointment of five new provincial court judges won't be enough to address the serious crisis facing B.C.'s justice system. Delays in the court system are resulting in judges throwing out cases because of the length of time it takes to get cases to court. The B.C. Crown Counsel Association says the new appointments won't address other resource shortages, such as increasing the numbers of Crown Lawyers, sheriffs and court staff. And all of this is true.



But what needs to be taken on is a complete review of the system and how it operates. It's fine for judges to throw cases out, but how much of the problem is created by the judges themselves? And they do create part of the problem. And how about the lawyers themselves? They're part of the problem too. So many delays are created because lawyers maybe take on too much and juggle too many cases and things continually get put off and put off for convenience sake. A lawyer tells the judge he'll be away or isn't ready, and the case is put over, and after that happens several times, the judge throws the case out. That's not the fault of a lack of resources - that's the fault of the people within the system.



I am not suggesting for a moment that more resources don't have to be committed. But those within the system already have to be accountable and own up to their part in the failure of the system to work. And the only way we can change things is for everyone to be a part of putting a new plan in place that will make significant changes. The same old same old, and just throwing money into an already broke system will do for the legal system what it's doing for the health care system-absolutely nothing.