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Eight new courtrooms planned for Surrey, no promise they will be community courts

SURREY - A lower Fraser Valley courts plan developed by municipalities and released Wednesday calls for 29 new courtrooms by 2033, eight of which are set to be in Surrey.

 

Surrey currently has 14 courtrooms and Mayor Dianne Watts said there's been a significant backlog.

 

"Surrey fully supports the addition of 29 courtrooms south of the Fraser," said Watts. "This addition will most definitely improve access and reduce wait times. The expansion of courtrooms and the upgrading of technology infrastructure support the recommendations of the Crime Reduction Strategy."

 

The province has committed to work with the City of Surrey to establish a steering committee to explore the specific justice issues facing the municipality, and determine what court models would best support the community.

 

Watts said the committee would be meeting over the next couple of weeks.

 

The "Lower Fraser Valley Regional Plan: Court Capacity Expansion" project was developed by the cities of Surrey, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Langley, as well as the Township of Langley.

 

Last April, the province signed a memorandum of understanding with the municipalities and, on behalf of the consortium, Abbotsford was granted $600,000 to fund the 20-year court plan. The plan is now complete and has been presented to the government to be considered for future capital funding.

 

The plan recommends that certain highpriority capital projects be completed by 2018, including expanding Surrey's provincial courthouse by five provincial courtrooms and updating the facility's technological infrastructure, as well as constructing a new 14-courtroom integrated courthouse in Abbotsford.

 

Long-term projects to be considered include a new five-courtroom provincial courthouse in Langley, further expansion of Surrey's courthouse by three provincial courtrooms and expansion of Chilliwack's courthouse by two provincial courtrooms.

 

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton emphasized that the plan doesn't have funding approval yet.

 

"But the goal is to get those built. They are the next phase of our courtrooms planned," Anton said Wednesday.

 

"Once funding is approved we can then move onto how those courts will be used.... This is a real opportunity right now so it would be premature to say how those courts will be used, but I think it's an opportunity to do some creative thinking."

 

Anton said she wouldn't rule out the idea of a community court, which Surrey has long been advocating for.

 

"But I don't want to prejudge how the courts should be used," Anton said. "There will be a task force, a working group, who will be putting their heads together to think about that."

 

Currently, the B.C. government is working with the judiciary and justice system partners on a specialized court strategy.

 

A statement from the Ministry of Justice said: "The province plans to release the strategy by March 31, 2015, and its focus will be on making evidence-based, integrated and strategic decisions when determining if there will be more community courts. It would be premature to commit further resources to developing specialized courts prior to the development of the strategy."

 

areid@thenownewspaper.com