Perth County council was updated on October 19th regarding the frequent closures of the Perth County courthouse.
Last month, council requested more information from staff on the impact of the closure which has mainly been pointed towards a shortage of Justices of the Peace across the province.
The cause has been due to retirements, sickness and other leave of absences.
Vicky Hamilton, Manager of Court Services says with the constant delays and cancellations, its building up a caseload and making matters worse.
“Even when a Justice of the Peace is presiding all the matters on the overbooked court dockets cannot be reached within the time we’re given for court. This results in further adjournments and more overbooked court dockets and the cycle continues” Hamilton.
As it stands for the year there are 2018 pending cases for the Perth County courthouse.
For now, county council has approved a draft letter to be sent to the Attorney General and Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae expressing their concerns on the recent closures and their limited judicial resources.
