COVID impacted job of chief judge Redman

By Herald on January 14, 2021.

Lethbridge Judge Derek Redman was sworn in last year as Chief Judge for the Provincial Court of Alberta. Herald file photo by Ian Martens @IMartensHerald

Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
Former Lethbridge judge Derek Redman expected to face some challenges after he was sworn in earlier last year as Alberta’s top provincial court judge: budgets to work on; daily emails to respond to; meetings to attend; issues to address; short- and long-term planning; court sittings around the province; and a multitude of other matters to deal with.
But he never imagined the biggest challenges would come from a worldwide pandemic.
In fact, since he officially began in his new role as chief judge on Aug. 1, Redman has been so busy dealing with issues related to COVID-19 and its impact on the judicial system, he can’t help but wonder how different his job would have been pre-pandemic.
“What did the chief judge do before COVID?” he recalls asking recently.
Actually, Redman had a pretty good idea what the job entailed before he was appointed. And he knew he’d be busy. After all, he was assistant chief judge in Lethbridge for the south region for three years before moving to Edmonton, and had worked with former chief judge Terry Matchett and his staff.
But the pandemic has added to his responsibilities.
“It’s a difficult time to move and take on a new challenge,” he says.
Redman acknowledges the pandemic has been inconvenient and difficult for many people, and even tragic for many others, but he admits it’s been exciting to help plan for the changes and challenges ahead.
“It’s been fascinating to be part of it.”
Before being called to the capital city, Redman sat as a Lethbridge judge for 13 years, the last three as assistant chief judge. He heard cases four days a week and spent one day performing administrative duties.
Now it’s the opposite. Redman spends most of his time doing administrative tasks and only occasionally hears cases in courtrooms around the province. But that’s one aspect of the job he doesn’t want to neglect.
“One of my objectives was to continue to sit,” he says.
On a typical day, Redman arrives at work just before 7:30 a.m. There are a lot of emails from other judges, staff and various government people to go through, and then he settles down for the day-to-day issues, numerous meetings, and addressing corespondence. He’s also busy preparing a new three-year plan to replace the previous one, which ends soon, and he’s working on a new budget.
The main issues he believes he’ll face during his seven-year appointment as chief judge, are twofold: how to deal with the increasing number of court cases, with fewer resources; and the allocation of those resources.
The pandemic has necessitated a new way of doing things, he points out. Most court sessions are being conducted remotely, with lawyers and clients attending court by phone, or by video and audio through internet connections called WebEx and Zoom.
Shortly after the pandemic struck, Lethbridge began conducting remote hearings for Taber, Cardston, Fort Macleod and Pincher Creek. And a Calgary project using Zoom to conduct JDRs, judicial dispute resolutions, is being reviewed to determine whether that should continue or revert to the former system requiring personal attendance.
“It’s really been an incubation of ideas,” Redman says.
With his work cut out for him over the next few years, Redman isn’t thinking too much about his future after his appointment as chief judge ends. Although he’ll be 70 years old by then, he’d like to return to Lethbridge and continue working, even if only part time or as a supernumerary, in which he could step down from his full-time position to fill in and relieve the duties of other judges when there is a heavy workload.
At least, those are his options. And for now, he has no intention of retiring anytime soon.
“I don’t think I’ll want to stop until I’m older.”
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