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Posted on 02/03/2003 8:00:31 AM PST by Loyalist

Lawyer files complaint over smoking judge
Using 'influence, financial means' to skirt regulations

VANCOUVER - A British Columbia judge who wanted special ventilation for her chambers so she could smoke on the job has become the subject of a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council that alleges her conduct has "unfairly brought the administration of justice into disrepute."

Lawyer Dugald Christie's letter yesterday to the Ottawa-based council accuses Madame Justice Mary Southin of the B.C. Court of Appeal of using her position to encourage smokers to avoid or defy the law, and stirring up "amusement by some and amazement and derision in others" over her actions.

"The main issue raised by all this controversy is whether access to justice is a reality in Canada or whether the justice system favours a privileged few such as [Judge] Southin commanding influence, financial means and legal know-how to serve their own personal needs," writes Mr. Christie, who has more than 30 years' experience as a lawyer in Vancouver.

"The actions of her ladyship should, I submit, be measured against the high standards which she herself has set during most of her distinguished career.

A council spokeswoman confirmed yesterday the judicial watchdog has received Mr. Christie's complaint and will be assessing it for action that could lead to a hearing concerning Judge Southin's conduct.

The council can recommend a judge's removal or express concern about their conduct.

The spokeswoman declined further comment on the specifics of the complaint, but said many are dealt with without a hearing. Judge Southin would be invited to comment on the allegations.

Judge Southin is four years away from mandatory retirement. She became a lawyer in 1957. In 1988, she was appointed to the B.C. Supreme Court. In 1990, she was appointed to the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Staff and judges of the downtown Vancouver Law Courts are barred under the rules of the Workers' Compensation Board from smoking indoors, but the government and Judge Southin have agreed to jointly pay $18, 919 to equip her office so she can smoke there.

When he confirmed the deal, Geoff Plant, the B.C. Attorney-General, cited such concerns as losing the experience of the 71-year-old judge if she were forced to retire early over her insistence on being able to smoke at work.

Judge Southin was widely criticized over concerns that the province would pay the full cost of the renovations.

This week, however, Mr. Plant disclosed that the judge, from the start, had agreed to pay about $12,000 of the cost.

But Mr. Christie says the fact that the self-described "unrepentant and unregenerate smoker" is willing to contribute to the renovations does not really change the key issues of his complaint.

In an interview, Mr. Christie said the issue goes beyond who pays the bill to the question of whether Judge Southin is trying to use her position to get a consideration that others could not.

"If some court clerk puts up $14,000, I do not think they are going to have the ability to smoke in the workplace," he said.

© Copyright 2003 National Post

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