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Embattled courts on way to 'tipping point'

Chief judge warns of threat to justice system from years of cuts
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Underfunding has resulted in about 15 per cent of staff in B.C.'s court services branch being cut since 2005.

The top judge of the B.C. Supreme Court has issued a rare warning that the province's justice system is critically threatened by years of government underfunding.

Chief Justice Robert Bauman, in a blunt Nov. 19 speech to B.C. lawyers in Las Vegas, used analogies like "going over the cliff in slow motion" to describe the danger looming from court congestion.

"Bring this issue to the attention of our fellow citizens and take whatever steps you can to defend and protect our judicial system," he urged legal colleagues. "Once our institution is critically wounded it will never be the same again."

Bauman likened court underfunding in B.C. to the forces of erosion, adding it is steadily approaching a "tipping point when that gradual, insidious process of incremental damage yields its dramatic finish – the structure is diminished and collapses."

By next year, the court services budget will have been cut more than 10 per cent since 2008, with overall staff down about 15 per cent.

Bauman said there is a limit to the system's ability to cope with restraint, adding the cutbacks that are yet to come are "cuts to the bone."

Numerous accused criminals, often impaired drivers, have already walked free because of judicial stays of proceeding after the case took too long to go to trial due to court delays.

The shortage of provincial court judges – 17 fewer now hear cases than in 2005 – have led to criminal case backlogs so long, he noted, even an accused cocaine trafficker had his case quashed this fall after a 42-month delay.

Court sometimes can't proceed because no clerk is available, Bauman noted.

A shortage of court registry staff has delayed the processing of court orders by up to six months in some cities, he said.

And he called the reduction in sheriffs earlier this year – since rescinded – a "glaring example" of court underfunding that led to criminal trial delays and never should have happened.

Legal aid funding has dropped to "almost nil" in civil and family cases, Bauman added, even though close to 20 per cent of litigants are self-represented.

"Without additional resourcing, the court's traditional and essential role in maintaining societal order is being eroded and degraded," Bauman warned.

NDP leader Adrian Dix called it a "very significant" warning on the state of the courts.

"When you have people like serious cocaine dealers who are not being tried because of court delays, that's a serious problem for confidence in our justice system."