Mention the legal system and most Canadians think of crime – publicly funded overpriced lawyers, interminable gang trials, and judges who are too soft on thugs. But the vast majority of court time is devoted to civil, family and non-criminal cases.  The federal Conservative omnibus crime bill is grabbing attention, but it’s the moribund civil system that requires resuscitation and reform.  In B.C. last year, 48,591 civil cases, 13,088 family cases and a paltry 1,054 criminal cases were filed in the province’s Supreme Court.  The lower provincial bench had 87,567 traffic and bylaw cases filed as well as 18,064 small claims, 41,551 family and 8,097 youth cases, compared with 101,865 criminal briefs – about 40 per cent of the filings for 2010.

Unfortunately, government under-funding and ever-increasing costs have seriously gummed up the cogs of civil justice, and most Canadians don’t realize how bad things are until they get fired, evicted, separated, or have a credit dispute.  Then they quickly understand something has gone terribly awry – the proverbial wheels of justice are not simply turning slowly, but seem to have completely seized up.”  Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Better+funding+only+crippled+civil+justice+system/5754247/story.html#ixzz1euwezTKM

 The Chief Justice of British Columbia’s Supreme Court has issued a  call for judges  to speak out against provincial funding cuts that he says threaten B.C.’s judicial system. In a recent speech Chief Justice Robert Bauman said, “The stability and integrity of our courts and judicial system are being slowly eroded by a lack of funding……Our judicial system is one of the best in the world. But it is threatened, if not in peril.”

The entire sppech can be found at: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court/about_the_supreme_court/speeches/Challenges to the Budget for Court Services Branch- CBA-BC Las Vegas meeting.pdf.

 Chief Justice Baumen said the court  budget will be reduced by more than 10 percent between 2008 and fiscal 2012-13, a cut that he said “translates directly to a reduction in staffing levels.”  He said staffing shortages at court registries have meant delays of up to six months in the processing of court orders, which he said impedes access to justice for litigants.  Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Judge+sounds+alarm+over+funding/5766133/story.html#ixzz1euqGovEe

 The headline for an Orlando Sentinel editorial about the state’s court funding crisis delivers a concise message: “Judges should carry gavels, not tin cups.”  Before the end of the most recent fiscal year on June 30, Florida legislators had to seek an emergency infusion of funds for the courts. With a wave of foreclosure cases halted, a primary source of revenue for Florida’s courts under a revised funding formula was affected, and the courts faced for a time a large shortfall in funding (see Gavel Grab).

More recently, Gov. Rick Scott approved an emergency $45.6 million loan to help plug a major funding gap for Florida’s courts; it was requested by Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady.  The editorial agrees with Justice Canady’s remark that “This is not the way to run a branch of government.” It adds:  “Especially not the judicial branch, which has a constitutional duty to check abuses of power by the executive and legislative branches. What happens when courts must depend on the governor or Legislature for periodic bailouts?”

 Finally the New York Times reports, ““The justice system’s funding has been decreasing in constant dollars for at least two decades,” said David Boies, co-chairman of a commission formed by the American Bar Association to study court budget issues. “We are now at the point where funding failures are not merely causing inconvenience, annoyances and burdens; the current funding failures are resulting in the failure to deliver basic justice.”   For the complete New York Times Story see: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/budget-cuts-for-state-courts-risk-rights-critics-say.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1322406030-0tGu3Te8Os+hQhaMAMu3RQ