Study of HRM Courthouse Needs

Improved security. Better working conditions for lawyers, prosecutors, judges and court administrators. Improved public access to court facilities.

Those are some of the benefits the province wants to see spelled out in a 35-year master plan for court facilities within Halifax Regional Municipality. The Department of Justice is now reviewing submissions from consultants who responded to a public request for proposals earlier this summer.

"We'll review the proposals, with an eye to awarding a contract early this fall," Justice Minister Michael Baker said today, Aug. 26. "We need a long-term plan to make sure we invest wisely to meet demographic and population changes."

The province owns or leases 211,000 square feet of space for courts in five metro locations: the Law Courts on Upper Water Street; Family Court on Devonshire Avenue; Provincial Court on Spring Garden Road; Provincial Court in Dartmouth and the Lions Hall in Sheet Harbour.

The department has advertised for a consultant who can meet the following goals:

• determine the preferred location(s) and size of court facilities in HRM for the next 35 years;
• identify options for preferred locations;
• analyze existing Justice facilities to see if they can be included in future solutions.

The consultant will also report on trends in the justice system, including technology needs, crime rates, caseloads, trial complexity, number of people representing themselves in court, the use of alternative dispute resolution and the role of restorative justice.

Once a consultant is selected, the province's Courthouse Standards Committee will oversee the master plan study. The committee is chaired by Judge James Wilson of the Nova Scotia Family Court, and includes other judicial, legal and departmental representatives.