Miramichi judge being transferred to Fredericton
Provincial court Judge Scott Brittain has been moved to the capital in light of a new appointment to the bench in Miramichi
A judge appointed to the bench last year to fill a vacancy on the bench in Miramichi is now going to be a permanent fixture at the Fredericton courthouse.
Scott Brittain was named to the provincial court bench and assigned to Miramichi in April 2022, but this week, with the naming of another new judge in Miramichi, Brittain is being moved to Fredericton.
Brittain, according to a news release issued last year, served as a senior solicitor with NB Power and with the City of Saint John before being named to the bench. He also served as a part-time instructor in municipal law at the University of New Brunswick law school.
On Thursday, the Department of Justice and Public Safety announced Miramichi lawyer Matthew Cripps had been appointed as a provincial court judge to preside over cases in that city, leading to Brittain’s transfer.
A government news release indicated provincial court Chief Judge Marco Cloutier opted to move Brittain to Fredericton “to address the pressures there.”
Fredericton has been down one of its regular complement of provincial court judges since Judge Kenneth Oliver was suspended for judicial misconduct in October pending a review of his actions.
Oliver contacted police witnesses outside of court last summer ahead of an evidentiary ruling he was scheduled to make in a drug-trafficking prosecution.
Brittain has already presided over a major case in Fredericton ahead of his move, as he took guilty pleas from sex offender Michael Sorenson, 39, of Noonan, during a Feb. 24 proceeding.
Sorenson admitted to 23 sex crimes involving 17 underage victims. The crimes included sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual touching, creation and possession of child pornography, and voyeurism, all involving teenage boys at various times between 2008 and 2021.
As the facts of the case were relayed to the court in an agreed statement from the Crown and defence that Sorenson signed and admitted, Brittain is now seized with the case and will preside over the sentencing, which is scheduled for July 21.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.