Judges take BC to court to demand more money
B.C.’s provincial court judges are suing Victoria for what they call the government’s irrational and unreasonable refusal to increase their pay and benefits.
The Provincial Court Judges’ Association of B.C. says in a lawsuit filed this week it shouldn’t be affected by the government’s “net zero” wage mandate because judges aren’t public sector employees. That claim raised eyebrows inside some of B.C.’s most prominent unions, since judges are paid in public funds.
The B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit says a judges’ commission delivered a compensation report to the provincial government last year.
This May, then-attorney general Barry Penner moved that the legislative assembly reject seven of the recommendations in that report. The lawsuit says the government felt it would be unreasonable to depart from its net-zero wage mandate. Under the two-year mandate, public sector unions can only negotiate wage increases if they cut costs elsewhere.
The legislative assembly rejected bumps in salary and benefits for the judges, as well as an increased pension accrual rate. The government noted provincial court judges saw their compensation rise from $161,250 in 2004 to $231,138 in 2010.
But the lawsuit says the Judicial Compensation Act allows for recommendations to only be rejected if the government can prove they’re unfair. It accuses the government of failing to respond “in a meaningful way.”
By utilizing the net-zero mandate, the lawsuit says, the government “fails to account for the fact that judges, although they must ultimately be paid from public funds, are not public sector employees, but rather an independent branch of government.”
As of May 2010, B.C. had 111 full-time and 35 part-time provincial court judges. The court adjudicates almost all criminal charges, family law and child protection cases, and civil claims up to $25,000. Provincial court judges earn less than their Supreme Court counterparts.
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Unsure where to start? A ... - BC Distance Family Mediation Blog
Overwhelming.
This is not the case just emotionally, psychologically and financially. Divorce and separation can also be mentally overwhelming. At least, it was for me. As someone going through the process for the first time, I found that the amount of new information I had to sift through in order to make even slightly intelligent and responsible decisions appeared to be limitless, as was the information’s ubiquitousness. Books, articles, guidelines, government publications, non-profit pamphlets, websites, support groups, classes, videos (and, nowadays, even Twitter) – dealing with everything from how to communicate with my ex-spouse to how to select the right professional for my situation – all seemed lined up on a trail with no end, each one offering information to help me.
With so much information about separation and divorce available, where does a person start? Which resources are the best? Which are trustworthy? Easy to understand? Thorough, without burying you alive with detail? How do you know they aren’t just self-promoting schlock?
Curious about what our distance mediation team members have come up with, after years of working with separating and divorcing couples, I asked them which resources they most commonly recommend to their family clients. Here, in no particular order, are their top picks:
British Columbia’s Family Justice, Ministry of Attorney General’s, free Parenting After Separation sessions (for B.C.