B.C. Supreme Court chief justice frustrated with court vacancies

B.C.’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson says he’s frustrated by Canada’s justice minister, who has failed to fill all of the judicial vacancies in his court.

“I don’t like rushing off to the press and trying to confront the minister, but I’ve given up the softer approaches because they simply haven’t worked.”

It’s not every day a sitting chief justice critiques a justice minister publicly, but Hinkson says there are still nine vacancies in his court — and it hasn’t had an increase in the number of spots since 2008.

“It’s gone on too long… I’m not prepared to continue to reduce the bookings we accept because we have vacancies.”

“There’s a reason that the legislation provides for a number of judges in this province. We haven’t had an increase since 2008. Alberta just got nine new positions this year. There will be no new positions for British Columbia. We had anticipated we might get five new positions, but that hasn’t come to pass, and it won’t in 2018 for budgetary reasons.”

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has received recommendations but hasn’t approved many of them.

“The only explanation that has been offered is that the minister doesn’t feel that the candidates who have been approved are suitable appointments. I’m not sure what that means, but that’s the limit of the explanation that I have been given,” said Hinkson.

Right now, there are nine vacancies on the B.C. Supreme Court.

At one point under the current government, Hinkson said there were 14 vacancies.

Thanks to the judge shortage, Hinkson says every week, he meets with people whose cases have been pushed back because the courts don’t have a judge to hear them.

Wilson-Raybould says she’s “committed to ensuring the most meritorious jurists are appointed to the bench.”

In a statement, she says she’s working to fill vacancies filled by a spike in retirements and “supernumerary elections” – who are judges who work part-time.

That said, Wilson-Raybould said while Chief Justice Hinkson has raised concerns about how many judges there are on B.C. Supreme Court, the Department of Justice hasn’t received a business case to create new positions.

She notes that last year, she made 100 appointments to the bench, more than any other justice minister in over two decades.

But that may be playing catchup because, in total, the Liberals have only made 151 appointments since they took power in 2015.