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The BC Provincial Court’s Interior Region stretches from Princeton to the Alberta border and from Golden to the US border. Judges and judicial justices sit in 21 court locations in this region, as well as in two virtual bail courts where all participants appear by video or telephone. Maintaining court operations throughout the region has posed particular challenges in the last 18 months.
The Hazelton Indigenous Court, the BC Provincial Court’s eighth Indigenous sentencing court, marked its first anniversary on August 3, 2022. Established through collaboration with the local and First Nations communities, the Court has succeeded in meeting unexpected challenges due to the perseverance and dedication of everyone involved.
From time to time retirement ceremonies are held in BC courthouses to honour a retiring judge. Colleagues, court staff, and others gather in a courtroom on the judge’s last sitting day and say mostly kind things. On June 6, 2022, staff at the Penticton courthouse organized a retirement ceremony with a difference - the retiree they were honouring was a dog!
Canada honours people who make extraordinary contributions to our nation by appointing them to the Order of Canada. In June, retired BC Provincial Court judge Marion Buller was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of “her leadership in Indigenous rights advocacy as the first woman of a First Nation to be appointed to the Provincial Court of British Columbia”.
The Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) awarded Judge Thomas Gove (retired) an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its 2022 Spring Convocation in June. The reward recognizes his “outstanding and sustained contributions to justice, public safety and service” during a 47-year career as a lawyer and judge.