N.S. judge who made biased comments, then tried to cover it up could be in line for censure

A Nova Scotia judge raked over the coals last week by the province’s top court for expressing his bias before final arguments were made in a case involving a man accused of sexual offences against his stepdaughter could be in line for another public spanking.

Truro provincial court Judge Alain Bégin found the accused guilty of sexual assault, touching a child for a sexual purpose, and invitation to sexual touching, sentencing him to eight years in prison. But the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal set aside those convictions and ordered a new trial for the man – identified by the initials K.J.M.J. – due to a series of remarks from Bégin indicating it appeared as if he’d concluded the accused was guilty before final arguments were made, then tried to cover it up.

“Members of the Nova Scotia Judicial Council are aware of the Court of Appeal decision published last week,” Jennifer Stairs, director of communications for the Nova Scotia judiciary, said this week in an email.

“The Council anticipates it will be in a position to say more on this situation shortly.”

Removal ‘pretty unlikely’

Dalhousie University law professor emeritus Wayne MacKay said Tuesday that it’s “pretty unlikely” Bégin will lose his job over the matter.

“Removal is extreme and very rare. It hardly ever happens,” MacKay said.

“But there are … things such as further education or other forms of discipline they may impose.”

The council can set up a committee to investigate the matter, he said.

“They can recommend to the attorney general – the justice minister – that he be removed,” MacKay said.

‘Astonishing’ behaviour

Bégin’s actions warrant some kind of censure, he said, noting the Appeal Court dubbed it “astonishing.”

Bégin’s “behaviour did produce a reasonable apprehension of bias,” MacKay said.

The attempt to cover up his comments by saying they were privileged and off the record counters the “very important principle of the open court process,” he said.

“So many things that he did were completely inappropriate for a judge who wants to be, and appear to be, impartial,” MacKay said.

The case involved K.J.M.J.’s 14-year-old stepdaughter, who told her mother he’d been “molesting” her since Grade 3. They went to the police in March of 2020. He was charged that June.

‘Embarassing’ for judicial system

Bégin’s mistakes means the victim will have to testify at a second trial, MacKay said.

“It’s embarrassing for the Nova Scotia judicial system that this happened,” he said.

“The trial judge’s comments and actions raise a lot of concerns about the impartiality of the justice system and the impartiality of this judge.”

The role of a judge requires impartiality and open-mindedness, MacKay said.

‘Defining features’

“That’s one of the defining features of what makes a judge,” he said.

“If you can’t do that, then it seems to me that you’re not well qualified to be a judge.”

The province’s Judicial Council is made up of several judges from various courts, along with representatives from the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and two people other than lawyers.

“The Judicial Council normally only wades into these things if someone triggers the process by making a complaint,” MacKay said, noting Nova Scotia’s top judges can do the same on their own initiative.

The provincial Cabinet appoints provincial court judges from a list of qualified candidates recommended by independent judicial advisory committees made up of judges, lawyers, government representatives, and members of the general public.

Bégin, who was a veteran criminal lawyer, was appointed to the bench in September of 2016.

Should ‘know better’

That’s “certainly long enough to know better about what judges should do,” MacKay said.

“The errors that seem to have been made here go to the very core of what it is to be a judge.”

He made headlines this past summer when a Nova Scotia small claims court adjudicator dismissed the case Bégin and his wife brought against their neighbour over a tree that fell during post-tropical storm Fiona.

“I think it’s quite odd,” MacKay said of the small claims case Bégin lost.

“There’s nothing stopping him. He’s also a citizen who has the right to do that. But it’s pretty unusual.”