The Government of British Columbia has appointed two new judges to the Provincial Court to support consistent and timely access to justice.

The new judges appointed to the Provincial Court are:

• Parveen Nijjar (effective July 25, 2024); and
• Paul Pearson (effective July 25, 2024).

Parveen Nijjar has been practising law for more than 15 years. Nijjar started her career in international development for the United Nations in Uzbekistan, working in the areas of policy and legislation. She returned to Canada and articled for a law firm that had a high-volume legal aid practice focusing on child protection, family and criminal law. After her call to the bar, Nijjar worked nearly six years in child protection and family mediation, ultimately becoming director’s counsel. In 2018, she became director’s counsel in the Legal Services Branch at the Ministry of the Attorney General. Shortly after, she was promoted to deputy supervisor. Nijjar is fluent in Punjabi and proficient in Russian and Hindi. She is highly active in the community and volunteers at many organizations, often doing fundraising and supporting families with low incomes.

Paul Pearson has been a criminal lawyer for nearly 25 years. He spent the first 20 years of his career as a partner at a well-respected criminal defence firm before being appointed as Crown counsel in Victoria. He has conducted numerous challenging cases, taught at Crown conferences and mentored new counsel. He was awarded the Crown Leadership Award for developing a cross-examination training series for Crown counsel. Pearson was an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria faculty of law for four years, where he taught criminal procedure and ethics. His course was so successful that he received the inaugural adjunct professor award of excellence. Pearson was an elected representative for the Canadian Bar Association and held table-officer positions for the Victoria Bar Association, including president and vice-president.

The Province is dedicated to ensuring fair access to justice for everyone in British Columbia. These judicial appointments are made by considering various factors, such as the court's requirements, the diversity of the judiciary and the candidates' areas of expertise.

Quick Facts:

• The process to appoint judges involves the following steps:
  • Interested lawyers apply, and the Judicial Council of B.C. reviews the candidates.
  • The council is a statutory body made up of the chief judge, an associate chief judge, other judges, lawyers and members from outside the legal profession.
  • The council recommends potential judges to the attorney general, with the final appointment made through a cabinet order-in-council.
• Although judges and judicial justices are located in a judicial region, many leverage technology such as video-conferencing for court proceedings, and travel regularly throughout the province to meet changing demands.

Learn More:

For information about the judicial appointment process, visit: https://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/