Starting Sept. 30, residents of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) will be able to avoid court for minor bylaw infractions, according to a Ministry of Justice press release.
Instead, residents can take those disputes to an independent adjudicator who works outside the traditional courtroom, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton announced at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention on Thursday.
Each jurisdiction will choose which bylaws it will include in the process.
The TNRD has bylaws pertaining to water, unsightly properties, utilities, buildings and some zoning, which could get put on an adjudication list.
TNRD Chair and Area M Director Randy Murray said the regional government is trying to decide exactly which bylaws will be on the list for adjudication.
“It is really just taking any of the bylaw infractions that could end up in the court system out of the courts and out of the court registry, and putting them into an adjudication system within the TNRD and speeding up the process,” Murray said. “We’ve got Sun Peaks and Barriere that are already involved, as far as municipalities go, and we’re hoping that over time all the municipalities in the TNRD — Merritt included — will sign on to it and as a result, we’ll be able to streamline the system a bit.”
Merritt Mayor Susan Roline said the city will consider the option of joining the adjudication process.
Murray said through this agreement with the office of the Attorney General and the process of bylaw adjudication, the TNRD will be able to step away from the court system and still handle minor infractions in a legal way.
“We have yet to decide how we do that exactly, what the formula or mechanism looks like, but the template’s there, so we’ll be moving down that road now to put it in place for all of the TNRD,” Murray said.
Murray said although it’s not known yet what the process will look like, its value is clear as it’s been done by over 60 other municipalities in B.C.
He said the volume of bylaw issues in the TNRD and a reduction in stress on the court system are two key reasons to implement an adjudication system.
The TNRD has 11 municipalities and 10 electoral areas and encompasses over 46,000 square kilometres, Murray said.
Each municipality is separate and has to sign on to the adjudication system itself — as each has its own bylaws and councils — but electoral areas outside of municipalities will now be subject to the TNRD’s adjudication system.
The alternative to resolving disputes in the courtroom comes as part of the B.C. government’s reforms to the justice system, the press release states.
The adjudication system will save local governments time and money and shorten the time it takes to resolve disputes as well as reduce costs and make efficient use of court resources, the press release states.
