Review committee will investigate actions of provincial court judge

A judicial review committee will investigate concerns about the actions of provincial court Judge Alain Begin of Truro, N.S., who tried to withdraw comments he made in a sexual assault trial. 

The Nova Scotia Judicial Council, the organization that looks at complaints against provincially appointed judges, announced the review in a news release Wednesday.

The investigation involves issues raised in a November Court of Appeal decision. 

The case involved a man, identified in court records by the initials K.J.M.J., who was convicted by Begin of sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and sexual touching. The charges involve the man’s stepdaughter.

Before final arguments began in the trial, Begin described K.J.M.J as a “sexual deviant” and said he had “no doubt” that the man was guilty of the sexual touching charge. He made these comments prior to rendering his verdict.

In his appeal of his convictions, K.J.M.J. cited comments Begin made during the trial. When the Court of Appeal tried to listen to the audio recording of the trial, they couldn’t because access had been restricted. When they asked why, Begin wrote in an email that the comments he made in open court were off the record.

The Court of Appeal quashed K.J.M.J’s convictions and ordered a new trial.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Deborah K. Smith will select the review committee which will include a provincial court judge, a lawyer, and a public representative. 

She will choose from names put forward by the Nova Scotia Provincial Judges’ Association, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Brad Johns.