Independent Agency Needed to Operate Courts, Set Judges' Salaries
Contact:
Owen Lippert, Director, Law & Markets
The Fraser Institute, (613) 565-0468, Email owenl@fraserinstitute.caRelease Date: 18 September 1997
VANCOUVER, BC>>> "A half-step measure," said Dr. Owen Lippert, Director of the Law and Markets Project at the Fraser Institute, describing the Supreme Court of Canada's decision that an independent panel review changes to judges salaries (The Judges of the Provincial. Court of Manitoba et. al vs Her Majesty). "It proves the need for Canadian provinces to create a Court Services Agency (CSA) along the lines of pilot projects now underway in the U.K."
A CSA is an independent body responsible for the operation of the courts, including the funding of judges' salaries. It would be funded by a block grant from the provinces and from revenues raised by court fees. "That said, creating new government agencies is a responsibility of the legislature, not the Supreme Court," added Dr. Lippert.
Lippert recommends a management committee of judges that would select the CSA's board of directors. From the provincial block grant and court fees, the management committee would set salaries and working conditions for judges and court employees. They would also be responsible for court scheduling, e.g., days and hours of sitting. (B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Bouck has also suggested that the provincial Chief Justice be elected by his or her peers.) Judges salaries would no longer be pegged to that of a deputy minister; instead, they would be determined by the management committee within the constraint of the revenues available.
Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurty wrote in the Fraser Institute's Law and Markets: Is Canada Inheriting America's Litigious Legacy?: "I am in total support of the concept of a court services agency ... as this has the potential to provide a combination of a more professional administration and a greater accountability to the public."
Lippert concluded that a CSA has two major advantages: it would ensure the financial independence of the judiciary, and it would provide provincial governments with fiscal certainty as to the expense of running a modern effective court system. "But in order to achieve these reforms, the justices' management committee would likely "contract out" the day-to-day operations to professional managers."
Established in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an independent public policy organization based in Vancouver.
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