Legal aid cuts questioned by another senior N.B. judge

Another senior New Brunswick judge is raising questions about the provincial government's decision to cut the funding for legal aid services in its March budget.

Provincial court Chief Judge Les Jackson said in an interview that the cuts could cost the system more money in the long run because legal aid has been forced to scale back when lawyers can represent low-income people in court.

The vast majority of people who use lawyers provided by legal aid end up in provincial court, and Jackson said if fewer legal aid lawyers are available, more defendants will represent themselves — and that can lead to mistakes, delays and inefficiency.

"It adds to the cost, because you have multiple appearances where nothing, where very little appears to be getting done. Yes, it adds to the cost," Jackson said.

The court system would be better served if people were represented by lawyers, Jackson said.

"To get to the facts, to make a determination of what the court has to determine, it's beneficial obviously if a trained professional is there that knows what needs to be proved and what does not need to be proved and can direct the case appropriately," the judge said.

Burke rejects blame for cuts

Justice Minister T.J. Burke said he's not to blame for the cuts.

In fact, he said he was floored by how the arm's-length Legal Aid Services Commission decided to implement its $360,000 budget cut.

"How they chose to come up with the draconian measures they've put in place is beyond me," Burke said.

Jackson's criticisms come just days after Court of Queen's Bench Chief Judge David Smith also publicly denounced the government's budgetary measures that cut legal aid, closed the small claims court and dismissed 14 family court social workers and mediators. Because of the reduction in court social workers, legal aid is facing more work with less funding.

Smith's comments led to a public row between the senior judge and the justice minister. Burke said that Smith's public statements were inappropriate and were "a breach of the independence between the judiciary and the executive branches."

Burke would not say what he would have cut instead of legal aid.

He said he can only conclude that David Potter, the commission's executive director, must have an ulterior motive for making the cut.

Potter declined to be interviewed, saying he saw no point to getting into a debate with the justice minister.

More judges speaking out: expert

The public exchange between Smith and Burke is rare, as normally judges and justice ministers avoid talking about issues that affect the other's sphere of influence.

However, Carissima Mathen, a constitutional law professor at the University of New Brunswick, said there's nothing wrong with judges commenting generally on issues that deal with the administration of justice.

"The chief justice of [the Supreme Court of] Canada, Beverly McLaughlin, and the former chief justice of [the Court of Appeal for] Ontario Roy McMurtry both have been quite engaged in the issue of access to justice and have in various public speeches … have indicated that they feel it's appropriate for governments to have that as a priority, which has funding implications," Mathen said.

Mathen said it is still rare for judges to comment on particular government decisions related to their budgets. However, she said, she feels Burke should have been more measured in his reaction to Smith's comments earlier this week.