ort St John's open house was held on April 16, 2008 from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Fort St John Courthouse at 10600 - 100 Street. This year two separate information session time slots were available and all were well-attended, with higher numbers than last year’s event. An RCMP presentation on Drug Houses and another on Family Law drew particularly large crowds. Families enjoyed tours of the courtrooms, cells, and police and sheriff vehicles.

The mock trial, held later in the evening, was held before a packed courtroom. The Honourable Judge Rita Bowry, only recently appointed as a Provincial Court Judge, discovered an hour before the event that it was to be a jury trial so she had to quickly prepare her first charge to a jury! While the jury deliberated on the final decision, she fielded questions from the public. The accused, a high school shop teacher, was found not guilty of assaulting the student in question.

    

This year the FSJ Law Day Committee had eight core members, making for a well orchestrated event. We are thinking of planning our event next year for a Saturday so that we do not have the extra challenge of working around the Government Agent’s hours, the office located on the main floor of the courthouse. The RCMP are also planning to open up the Detachment for tours next year.

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association held its province-wide “Dial-A-Lawyer” as part of Law Week. Fort St John area residents were invited to call between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm to speak with a lawyer for up to 15 minutes at no cost.