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CACC Meets with UHM Voice of the Workers and Malta Government Lawyers
In 2022, UHM Voice of the Workers marked a significant milestone by negotiating the very first collective agreement for the Attorney General’s Office. The groundbreaking efforts of UHM Voice of the Workers have not gone unnoticed. Their achievements resonated across borders, drawing the attention of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel (CACC). At a recent meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association conference in Malta, representatives from the CACC engaged with UHM delegates to learn from their experiences.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2025-04-11
A system in crisis: Rebuilding the dwindling Crown Attorney’s Office
With more files, more complex files and less resources, not surprisingly, Crown Attorneys are burning out and quitting. The lack of sufficient lawyers, especially experienced lawyers, has led to crisis in many provinces. Associations representing Crown Attorneys in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have recently sounded the alarm...
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2025-03-14
Crown attorneys call on Manitoba government to help address 'dangerously heavy caseloads'
The Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys (MACA) is calling on the provincial government to help reduce mounting workloads that it says are making it difficult for prosecutors to meet their professional responsibilities. grievance it filed in April 2023. It says the grievance it filed back in April 2023 regarding 'dangerously heavy caseloads' won't be heard by an arbitrator until October 2025.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2025-01-10
Preparing RCMP body-cam evidence for court will be monumental task, prosecutor says
The RCMP is phasing-in the use of body-worn cameras across the country and expects 90 per cent of frontline members to be wearing them within a year. Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said while the body-camera evidence will be great to have, it will also mean a huge influx of work for prosecutors.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2025-01-06
N.L. government invests in 18 new Crown attorneys amid severe staffing crunch
Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Bernard Davis announced Wednesday afternoon that the provincial government is investing nearly $24 million to improve the province's justice system.... The investment comes after CBC News reported in numerous stories that Crown attorneys in the province were "suffocating" from overwhelming workloads and a critical staffing shortage.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-14
Newfoundland to add more Crown prosecutors
Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to hire more Crown lawyers following cries of a shortage of prosecutors in the province. The “multi-year investment” will include the hiring of 18 new Crown lawyers, according to a news release.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-13
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Supreme Court ruling on trial delays 'out of step with reality,’ senators say
14-06-2017
Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Chair Senator Bob Runciman, left, with Senator George Baker. Runciman said the Supreme Court did not have enough data last year about the potential impact of its Jordan ruling “before it stepped off a cliff” and imposed the new trial timelines. (ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
A group of senators slammed the Supreme Court of Canada for being “out of step with reality” and careening “off a cliff” in its attempt to curb trial delays by setting rigid deadlines the justice system can’t currently realistically meet.
The Senate committee on legal and constitutional affairs released a report Wednesday that makes 50 recommendations to speed up criminal trials, saying what’s needed is a complete rethink of the Canadian criminal justice system, not drop-dead timelines.
Sen. George Baker warned “tens of thousands” of criminal charges risk being tossed next year as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling last July in a drug case called “Jordan,” which set 18-month deadlines for trials in provincial courts, and 30-month ceilings on trials in superior courts.
Baker, an independent appointed by a previous Liberal government, and Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman said the Supreme Court did not have enough data last year about the potential impact of its Jordan ruling “before it stepped off a cliff” and imposed the new trial timelines.
Yet the senate committee report says it is not the high court’s fault that despite rulings in 1990 and 1992 intended to curb delays, trial delays have become an endemic part of the system.
“Legislative solutions can take you only so far,” Runciman said. “It’s the legal culture we need to change. Delay is regarded as the norm. Cases are adjourned routinely for no good reasons.”
