A strike two years ago led to the abandonment of some cases because of the lack of availability of lawyers. Ben Doyle of the Trial Lawyers Association in British Columbia said: ‘We don’t want a situation where you see more and more people representing themselves because that is what slows down the courts.’ 

Part-time judges

Family protection cases are taking an average of 11 months to be decided, according to the Crown Counsel Association of British Columbia. Samiran Lakshman of the Crown Counsel Association said: ‘Last year, on March 31st, 2013, we had 130 judges or full-time equivalent judges and now we have five fewer provincial court, full-time judges. Disturbing part about that number is about 40 per cent of those are part-time judges.’ Source: CKNW AM