St. Stephen courthouse closure prompts protest

Sixty people gathered in St. Stephen Thursday to protest plans to close the local courthouse later this month.

The province announced in April the courthouse would close and merge with the Saint John Law Courts.

Some of the protesters carried signs saying "justice lost" and "show us the savings."

Their final destination was the office of MLA John Ames to deliver their petition.

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David Bartlett, a lawyer from St. Andrews, is part of a group of Charlotte County lawyers who have launched a legal action to try to stop the closure of courts in St. Stephen and Grand Manan.

He has said his issue with the move is victims and accused persons will have no public transit to get to Saint John.

"They seem to have ignored obvious issues such as that there is no public transit existing between Charlotte County and Saint John. We have no idea of how people are supposed to get there if you don't have a car," he said.

A notice of Application was filed Oct. 7 on behalf of the Charlotte County Barristers' Society.

It asks that the decision to close the courthouse be either quashed, suspended, or that a temporary injunction prohibiting the closure be granted until issues raised by the lawyers can be addressed. 

The lawyers allege there is a lack of transparency surrounding the decision to close courts in the county.

On March 31, in the Gallant government's first budget, it was announced courthouses in Grand Manan and St. Stephen would close, along with those in Sussex and Grand Falls.