The Yukon’s newest Supreme Court justice will soon begin her training so she can start hearing cases sometime in 2019.

Justice Suzanne Duncan and Chief Justice Ron Veale met with the media Monday afternoon to talk about Duncan’s recent appointment.

She said she was in shock when she heard of her selection. She added she fell silent on the phone when she was told the news.

She said the appointment was swift, and explained that when the federal Ministry of Justice calls a candidate for the Supreme Court, the appointment has already been made. She added she was greeted as Madam Justice Duncan.

“It’s a real honour,” she said.

Duncan has been practising law for 31 years. She has experience in both a private practice as well as in government settings. She was most recently the in-house lawyer for the Kwanlin Dün First Nation.

She said her time at Kwanlin Dün has been a career highlight. She was the first in-house legal counsel for the First Nation, which has helped her gain a variety of experience. She called her work interesting and fulfilling.

As an appointee to the court must do, Duncan officially resigned from her position on Nov. 30.

She feels her skills and experience will serve the people of the Yukon well, and hopes she can do some good.

Duncan said the biggest challenge she will face is learning new areas of law in which she does not have experience.

She also sees challenges in adapting from being a lawyer to a justice, including how to run the courtroom itself.

Veale said he is pleased to have her join the team. He said she was to be informally sworn in, either later Monday or today. There will be a formal swearing-in ceremony sometime next year.

The goal is to have Duncan sitting on the bench as soon as possible, Veale said.

The appointment has gone through unusually quickly, with Veale explaining that the workload has greatly risen since Justice Leigh Gower’s sudden death in October. He added the volume had been rising even before the justice’s death.

“The workload has increased exponentially in the last several years,” Veale said, calling it unsustainable. The resident justices and deputy justices were all filling in.

He explained the added work is a result of a territorial boom due to the heated housing market and economic activity. As well, there are more criminal jury trials taking place. Veale clarified that these are not just murder trials, but proceedings for other offences.

“There is quite a need (for more help) out there,” he said.

Veale believes the workload will ease up with the addition of a third justice.

Duncan said she will be job-shadowing other judges, hoping to learn as much as possible through this and through reading. She was set to begin shadowing Justice Edith Campbell today.

Duncan explained that the shadowing will consist of sitting down with a judge to hear a case.

Rather than participating in a hearing, she will observe the proceeding and the presiding justice’s thinking and decision-making processes.

As well, educational programs through the National Judicial Institute are designed to help all superior court judges, Veale pointed out.

“It (the institute) has probably the best educational programs in the world,” the chief justice said.

Duncan will be doing one course a month over a few years. All courses should bring her up to speed on court proceedings she may be unfamiliar with.

Since Duncan possesses great experience in civil matters, Veale explained, she will work on learning more about family law and criminal law.

The new justice will be doing mediation and judicial settlements. He said there is more than just hearing cases, as resolution is a part of what the Supreme Court does.

Duncan said the institute’s offerings vary from online courses to those done in-person.

There are also practical training opportunities, such as a course on judgment writing.

The justice will have to provide an oral judgment in a classroom setting, then receive feedback afterwards.

“Those kinds of courses will be extremely useful,” Duncan said.

She has already signed up for two courses to be taken in the new year.

After Campbell, Duncan is the second woman to be appointed to the territory’s Supreme Court. This is the first time that the justices are made up of a majority of women.

Veale pointed out that female judges have increased from 30 per cent to as high as 40 per cent of the total number during federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s term.

Duncan said it feels good to be the second woman appointee, adding she knows and has great respect for Campbell. She said she looks forward to working with Campbell and Veale, as well as living up to Gower’s legacy.

Overall, she said, she is interested in everything that comes her way judicially.