Judith Webster - Provincial Justice

Provincial Justice

Webster resigned as Chief Justice in October 2001, citing new provincial legislation that placed a term limit on her position. She was formally exempt from the legislation as the incumbent Chief Justice, but argued that she should abide by its spirit and resign after eight years in the position. She remained an active judge on the provincial court.

Webster issued her report into the 911 murders in October 2002, and made several recommendations to restore confidence in the system. One of her more noteworthy recommendations was that the province should review its zero tolerance legislation for situations of domestic abuse. The law required that police attending a domestic incident must charge the accused, even if the alleged victim did not wish to press charges or if there was no evidence of assault. Webster argued that this policy slowed police response to calls, and adversely affected the workload of other agencies. She also criticized 911's decision to identify all domestic calls as "Priority 1" after the murders, arguing that this actually created a slower response time to real emergencies.

Webster resigned from the bench in 2006.

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