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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
Critical shortage of Crown attorneys has 'gone on way too long' and is hurting public safety
The Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, an umbrella group for thousands of Crown attorneys and government lawyers across the country is calling for a big boost in the number of provincial prosecutors in Newfoundland and Labrador.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-13
Most criminal cases in Ontario now ending before charges are tested at trial
More than half of the criminal charges laid by police in Ontario never make it to trial, according to data from Statistics Canada. The numbers paint a troubling picture of the province’s justice system. More judges, staff, prosecutors and courtrooms needed, says Crown attorneys’ association.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-12
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Crown Attorneys Plead For More Staff to Match Rising Crime Rates
03-08-2024
The people in the province’s justice system who play a key role in courtrooms say increasing rates and complexities of crime are leaving them swamped with work, and they’re calling on government to staff up.
Statistics Canada recently published data which shows rising rates of crime nationally and provincially.
Homicides, for example, are up significantly in Newfoundland and Labrador, ranging from two to almost 10 a year over the past decade, while extortion cases saw the biggest jump in numbers from just 19 reports in 2015, to 202 in 2023.
Vehicle thefts are up by about 30 per cent over that period, with notable spikes in other crimes as well.
Shawn Patten, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown Attorneys Association, says prosecutors don’t always have the luxury of asking the judge for more time to present their case, and often work until the wee hours preparing for trials.
That’s due in large part, he says, to a shortage of experience Crown attorneys.
“That is what we’re seeing — overworked lawyers trying their best to protect the public,” he said. “But that’s a slippery slope. We’ve seen many talented Crown attorneys move on to other areas of practice — not because they don’t enjoy being a prosecutor but because they’re often overwhelmed with the workload.
“And by losing talented lawyers, especially those with experience, we end up with a pool of more junior lawyers with less experience being asked to handle not only their own high workload, but also that of their former colleagues.”
Patten notes while crime is increasing, the number of prosecutors has not been adjusted to deal with it.
He’s calling on government to correct the imbalance in the name of public safety.
https://vocm.com/2024/08/03/crown-lawyers-workload/