N.S. justice minister says scheduling, not shortages behind court problems

Nova Scotia's justice minister says he's prepared to wait for the appointment of a new chief provincial court judge, rather than address concerns voiced by the current chief judge, Pam WIlliams.

In a speech last month, Williams said the courts are struggling to keep up with the volume and complexity of cases today. She said even with a full complement of 28 judges in Nova Scotia, there are difficulties. There are currently two vacancies caused by recent retirements and a third judge is off on long-term leave.

Following a cabinet meeting Thursday, Justice Minister Brad Johns said he was prepared to fill the two vacancies, but wouldn't accept the idea of expanding the court.

"I'm not committed to doing this right now," Johns said. "I do know that Chief Judge Williams's term is almost up and I'm anticipating there'll be a new chief judge, and so hopefully we'll have an opportunity at that time to have some of the issues that may be there reviewed as well."

When asked whether he was simply going to wait out Williams, Johns initially said yes but then backtracked on that answer. He said problems with scheduling have also hampered the courts and he said that's the responsibility of the chief judge.

"It's easy to throw shade and say, 'We don't have enough judges, we don't have enough judges,' but some of this is the responsibility of the judiciary as well, I think," Johns said.

Earlier this week, a Nova Scotia man had charges against him dismissed because the case had been heard, but no decision was delivered because the judge went on leave. A new judge ruled that the matter had dragged on for too long.

Johns said the problem in that case was one of scheduling.

"That case was plagued by the fact, if I recall correctly, the judge who was supposed to be handling it was on long-term leave," Johns said. "Why wasn't that long-term leave addressed sooner?"

The problem with the numbers of judges is not unique to Nova Scotia. Earlier this week, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Richard Wagner, said there are currently about 80 vacancies in superior courts across the country. He said some courts have ongoing vacancy rates of 10 to 15 percent.

"These empty positions have a significant impact on the administration of justice," Wagner said.

Nova Scotia's Supreme Court is fully staffed for criminal cases, but there are two vacancies in the family division. There is also a vacancy on the court of appeal. Filling those vacancies is the responsibility of the federal government.