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B.C. Provincial Court Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield died May 7, after battling a
rare form of bone marrow cancer.
Born in B.C. in 1952 and raised in Vancouver, Stansfield graduated from the UBC
law school in 1979. He worked as a criminal prosecutor and as a lawyer in
private practice before being appointed a provincial court judge in 1993.
He served as a judge in Vancouver and then in the Okanagan before becoming
Associate Chief Judge in 1998 and Chief Judge in 2005.
Stansfield is remembered for his efforts to make the court system more
accessible, efficient, simple, transparent and open, especially for poorer and
needier citizens.
He helped establish the new community court in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and was a strong supporter of the pilot drug court program.
Both courts seek to handle cases more quickly and stream low-level offenders
into rehabilitation programs.
Stansfield was also a champion of conflict resolution and supported a pilot
project to convene civil cases at night, a system which resolves many cases in
an hour or less.
Stansfield made himself available to the public, granting interviews and
appearing at public meetings to explain the judicial system. He also defended
judges against complaints that they were too lenient
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell praised Stansfield’s “strength of character” for the way he fought his illness and continued to fulfill his responsibilities
as a judge until the last week of his life.
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Stansfield was an active member of Ryerson United Church. He served as a B.C
representative on the United Church’s General Council for six years and was chair of the Agenda and Planning
Committee for the Fredericton General Council in 1992.
Stansfield is survived by his wife Jo-Ann and sons, Colin, David, Patrick and
Matthew.
A memorial service was held May 24 at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church; and a special sitting of the court will be held in his
honour June 4.
June 2009
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