THE B.C. government is appointing five new provincial court judges to ensure the court can continue to improve access to justice, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton announced Monday.

The appointments of the five judges are effective, as follows:

Judge Valli Chettiar – July 31.

Judge Kathryn Ferriss – July 31.

Judge Christine Lowe – August 4.

Judge Jay Solomon – August 7.

Judge Danny Sudeyko – August 17.

The judges will be assigned to locations determined by the chief judge to meet the needs of the court.

The process to appoint judges involves several steps: Interested lawyers apply and the B.C. Judicial Council, a committee made up of the chief judge, provincial court judges, lawyers and lay people, review the candidates; and the committee recommends potential judges to the Attorney General, with the final appointment made through a Cabinet order-in-council.

JUDGE Chettiar graduated with her law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1992 and was called to the bar in 1993. She clerked for the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She has more than 20 years’ legal experience in a number of areas including: administrative law; civil litigation; mediation and arbitration; corporate and commercial; securities; taxation; wills, estates and trusts; real property; and corporate governance. She has practised as a sole practitioner, partner of a national law firm, general counsel and in-house corporate counsel for both public and private corporations. She recently served as Vice Chair of the Property Assessment Appeal Board and as Mediator/Arbitrator for the Surface Rights Board. She has also served on the Health Professions Review Board.

Judge Chettiar has served on many other organizations in various roles including the following: Director and Vice-President of the B.C. Council of Administrative Tribunals and Chair of its Conference Committee; Member of the Practice Standards, Credentials and Equity and Diversity Committees of The Law Society of British Columbia; Elected Member of the National and BC Councils of the Canadian Bar Association; Member of the CBA BC Branch Executive Committee; Member of the BC Law Institute’s Succession Law Reform Subcommittee, Government of BC Asia Pacific Trade Council India Market Advisory Group, and SFU Presidential Advisory Council on India; President of the Canada-India Business Council (BC Chapter); Director of the Canada-India Business Council, BC Council for International Education and St. Jude’s Anglican Home; Corporate Director of two BC crown corporations and Chair of their Governance and Human Resources Committee; and Chair of the Investment and Corporate Governance Committee of the Portfolio Management Association of Canada.

Judge Chettiar has lectured extensively and has taught law. She is the recipient of the 2012 CBA Touchstone Award, the 2008 CBA BC Branch Equality and Diversity Award, and the 2004 Pravasi Excellence Award from the NRI Institute for excellence in law and contribution toward socio-economic development of Canada and India. She has been profiled in the 2006 and 2008 Women in the Lead / Femmes de Tête directories and the UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law History Project. She has also been nominated for other awards including the UBC Alumni Achievement Awards – Alumni Award of Distinction, the Vancouver YWCA Women of Distinction Award, and the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case.