Charlotte County courtroom fight hangs on 2 decisions

Lawyers fighting to keep open two Charlotte County courthouses are anticipating a pair ofdecisions from a New Brunswick judge to see if the doors will stay open in small courthouses in Grand Manan and St. Stephen.

The fight to keep the courthouses open moved to a Saint John court on Wednesday, where lawyers for the New Brunswick government and the Charlotte County Barristers Association were arguing over the courtrooms'closure.

Justice Terrence Morrison said he will rule on Friday on the provincial government's request to dismiss the application from the lawyers association to keep the two courthouses open.

Next week, Morrison will rule on the original application to quash the provincial government's decision to close the two courtrooms.

The final day at the St. Stephen courthouse was last Friday, but Charlotte County lawyers are trying to get the Court of Queen's Bench to overturn the provincial government's decision to close the facility.

William Gould, a lawyer for the provincial government, quoted from Finance Minister Roger Melanson's March 31 budget that outlined the closure of several small courthouses in the province.

He also said that judges should not be interfering in the allocation of scarce provincial dollars.

Gould said in court documents filed on Tuesday the request filed by the Charlotte County Barristers Associationto keep the St. Stephen courthouse open is "procedurally defective," because it was not commenced within three months of the provincial budget speech.

Andrew Rouse, a lawyer for the Charlotte County Barristers Association, said the actual date of the courtroom closure came in October, so it was within the three months.

He said the closures will restrict "unreasonably access to justice."

The application by the Charlotte County Barristers Association requests the closing of the courts be quashed, or delayed, until the issues raised in the application are dealt with.

The lawyers argue the decision to shut down the courthouses is unconstitutional, because there was not an "open, transparent public" process to arrive at it. It also says the decision denies citizens access to justice.

The application also claims there will be "no, or negligible cost savings" by closing the two courts.

This is not the first time lawyers for the provincial government have been in court to defend decisions to close provincial buildings.

Parents from Brown's Flat and Lorne Middle schools also took the provincial government to court over the decision to close those buildings.

The Court of Appeal sided with the provincial government in that case.