Justice delayed : Report of the Provincial Court of British Columbia concerning judicial resources

To assist in understanding the magnitude of this problem the report views the growth in the number of uncompleted cases, and the delay for each case type, from both a province-wide perspective, and from the vantage point of those locations in the Province with the longest delay. [...] For the reasons stated in the report, if the judicial complement is not restored to the 2005 level, the public interest requires the Court to allocate a more proportionate level of judicial resources to civil, family, and child protection cases, with the goal of reducing the delay for these case types over a two-year period. [...] Given the reduction in the judicial complement [number of judges], these standards or timelines are not being met.1 The Court recognizes the Attorney General's constitutional responsibility for the administration of justice, including providing the resources necessary for the effective operation of the courts. [...] This report was prepared to inform decisions concerning: the number of judges required for the Court to fulfil its mandate; an effective process for timely filling of judicial vacancies within the Court's judicial complement and budget; and enhanced reporting by the Court to the Attorney General and the public regarding the Court’s utilization of the judicial resources allocated to it. [...] This was due to a number of factors, including: that the largest decreases to the Court’s complement were in 2009 and 2010, and many of these judges did not leave the Court or enter the senior program until later in the year; the transfer of the equivalent of 5.5 “judge years”4 of workload to JCMs, lawyers, and mediators in the reform initiatives; fewer judge days lost due to illness in 2009; and