British Columbia’s judicial justices are judicial officers who exercise authority under various provincial and federal laws. They are assigned a variety of duties by the Chief Judge. Some judicial justices preside in courtrooms throughout the province, hearing traffic matters and ticketable offences under provincial laws, as well as municipal bylaw matters. They may also conduct small claims payment hearings. Others are assigned judicial duties at the Justice Centre, where they consider search warrant applications and hear applications for detention or bail.
The Court has two administrative judicial justices who assist the Chief Judge. Administrative Judicial Justice Gerry Hayes is responsible for criminal matters at the Justice Centre and Administrative Judicial Justice Lori Plater is responsible for the Traffic Division.
Judicial justices do not deal with applications under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and offences that may result in imprisonment. As a result, when a Charter issue is raised in traffic court or in another matter normally heard by a judicial justice, the matter is referred to a judge. Matters where the prosecution is seeking jail are also generally scheduled to be heard by a judge.
To assist judges and judicial justices with difficult ethical and professional issues and to assist members of the public to better understand the judicial role, the BC Judicial Council has adopted the Ethical Principles for Judges published by the Canadian Judicial Council in 2021, except for its commentary on “Post-Judicial Careers” in s. 5.E.2 restricting the types of activities a judge can engage in upon leaving the judicial office and returning to the legal profession.
For more information on judicial justices’ work, see section 30.2 of the Provincial Court Act and the Chief Judge’s assignment of duties to judicial justices in Notice to the Profession and the Public 16.
Appointment of Judicial Justices
The Judicial Council screens candidates for judicial justice appointments, and makes recommendations for appointment to the Lieutenant Governor in Council. (BC’s Lieutenant Governor acting on the advice of Cabinet). For more information on judicial justice appointments, see the Judicial Council’s Annual Reports and the Provincial Court’s Annual Reports.
If you are interested in the appointment process, or in applying, see Appointment of Judicial Justices.
Judicial Justices as of February 2024
Hayes, Gerry (Administrative Judicial Justice for the Justice Centre)
Plater, Lori (Administrative Judicial Justice for the Traffic Division)
Adair, Brent (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Afsar, Aamna (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Beer, Bradley (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Begg, Fiona (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Blackstone, Irene (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Brown, Anna-Maya (Justice Centre)
Burgess, Brian (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Campbell, Alison (Justice Centre)
Cederberg, Nicole (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Chellappan, Joseph (justice Centre)
Christiaens, Caroline (Justice Centre)
Davenport, Jennifer (Justice Centre)
Dodwell, Patrick (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Holmes, Tim (Justice Centre)
Hughes, Joan (Traffic)
Joseph-Tiwary, Susheela (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Kinahan, Catherine (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Langford, Laurie (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Lesperance, Robert (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Makhdoom, Zahid (Traffic)
McCall, Hugh (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Osborn, Carmella (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Padron, Debra (Justice Centre)
Riddle, Judith (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Roberts, Carol (Justice Centre)
Rodgers, William (Justice Centre)
Sandor, Martha (Justice Centre)
Stabler, Peter (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Swift, Sarah (Justice Centre/Traffic)
Toy, Bronson (Justice Centre)
Wall, Leslie-Anne (Justice Centre/Traffic)