The Lawyers Weekly - February 10, 2012

In an effort to help British Columbia’s beleaguered court system, the province’s attorney general has announced a new court staff training program.

Shirley Bond said the Centre for Court Administration would provide training in specialized court administration work, such as criminal registry operations and clerking.

The initiative, which drew praise from B.C. Supreme Court’s chief justice, is a partnership between the Ministry of Attorney General and the Justice Institute of B.C. (JIBC).

“Developing a long-term education and training strategy for court administration staff is a government priority, as is establishing a sustainable training and education strategy that supports staff recruitment, engagement and retention,” Bond said in a statement to The Lawyers Weekly. “Court Services is anticipating a large staff turnover in the next five years, particularly at the court clerk and court registry positions.” Bond said the program would include a combination of online courses, virtual classroom work and in-person training at JIBC campuses in New Westminster and throughout the province. Courses are anticipated to begin in the next few months.

“They have an exceptional track record in training many of the people involved in our justice system, from the police on the street to the staff in our courtrooms,” Bond said of JIBC.

She said $80,000 has been invested this fiscal year on curriculum development for the centre.

The investment has the support of B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman, who, in a November speech to the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), decried the shortage of funding for B.C.’s courts.

“The court cannot operate effectively or efficiently without adequate numbers of well-trained court clerks and registry staff. Their support of the judiciary is crucial to our work,” Justice Bauman said in a Jan. 23 statement to The Lawyers Weekly.

“I hope that the government continues to make investments into the justice system so that the judiciary’s ability to fulfill its role as neutral, unbiased and impartial decision maker—a role which is fundamental to the functioning of a society governed by the rule of law—is not compromised, undermined or eroded,” Bauman said.

Canadian Bar Association B.C. branch president Sharon Matthews welcomed any changes, including staff increases.

Matthews echoed some of
Bauman’s November speech in
which he said the Court Services
budget will have been reduced by
more than 10 per cent between
2008 and fiscal 2012-13. “That
translates directly to a reduction in
staffing levels. In 2008, Court Ser-
vices staffing level was 1,430 FTEs.
Today, there are 213 fewer FTEs.”
Matthews said court rules
have changed toward getting ear-
lier resolution to disputes. That,
she said, has led to an increase in
the amount of court work needed
to be done at the start of cases
and increased the need for court
staff to assist judges.

recruits began training Jan. 23. The attorney general’s office said Jan. 23 that 58 news sheriffs are expected to have entered the system by the time the course completes in April.

More than 480 sheriffs work in 45 courthouses and 44 circuit courts throughout B.C., a ministry fact sheet said. n

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