eNews: Other Topics
While not without challenges, the Court’s use of technology during the last year to conduct some types of proceedings has increased access to justice for many people. Among other benefits, it has saved litigants and lawyers from travelling long distances for short court appearances.
In medieval times, sentences for crimes in England could include whipping, hanging, burning at the stake, or being drawn through city streets and decapitated. These sentences were, by intent, gruesome public spectacles. The community’s role was to watch and be deterred from committing crimes.
Last fall, more than a dozen editors and journalists from BC’s northern region met with Provincial Court judges for the second in a series of regional media workshops offered by the Court. The meeting yielded not just a valuable exchange of information and perspectives, but a new educational opportunity for BC media.
It can be hard to find a lawyer in a small rural community. Many BC towns have a shortage of lawyers or are projected to have a shortage in the coming years. But smaller communities offer BC lawyers economic advantages including more affordable housing, easy access to recreational activities, and opportunities in the practice of law that may not be available in larger cities.