This past week, there were several ‘big events’ of note: the grand opening of Finlay House, the new Acquired Brain Injury home in Napanee; Septemberfest, Stone Mills’ massive Canada 150 party; and the unveiling of important Indigenous murals at NDSS.
Something that might have slipped under the radar — if not for the fact we covered the event on Friday — was the revival of the ‘Opening of the Courts’ ceremony at the Lennox and Addington County courthouse.
This had been a routine ceremony years ago, in the days when the courts weren’t in session during the summer months; it offered a chance to get the new session off on the right foot. It’s been some time since the courts took their summers off and, not surprisingly, it’s been some time since there’s been such a ceremony held in this area (or in many areas of the province).
Lawyers and judges who work out of Napanee, however, thought that it’d be a good idea to bring it back. We wholeheartedly agree.
As many of the speakers at Friday’s ceremony pointed out, it afforded an opportunity not necessarily to get things off on the right foot, but to pause and reflect on the work they do and how well they do it. (They appear to be doing it quite well).
Many don’t have any exposure to that world — which is probably a good thing. That means you’ve had no reason to stand before a judge as a victim, a witness or an accused. At the same time, our justice system is vitally important, even if it’s an afterthought (or of no thought at all) to those who never or very rarely see the inside of a courtroom.
This is not to say our courts are perfect. They’re not. As Crown Attorney Monica Heine pointed out in her remarks on Friday, these institutions don’t deserve blind faith; indeed, it’s essential for our courts to continue to find ways to improve, and assuming perfection doesn’t allow that circumspection and improvement to happen.
But whatever faults, controversies or failures we can point to, our courts are on fundamentally sound footing. Why wouldn’t they be? In order for our democracy to survive, it requires an independent justice system — which ours is. It must be underpinned by core principles that, at their centre, protect the rights of all Canadians — which ours does.
Given the crucially important role the courts play in our society, it’s a good idea to pause and reflect on it — for those who work within the system and for those who don’t. The ‘opening of the courts’ fell by the wayside as life became too busy; it’s our belief that, because life is so busy, a pause like this ceremony is more important than ever.