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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.​

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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.

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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.

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Date de parution : 2024-11-12


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Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system 'crisis'

28-05-2024

New Brunswick

Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system 'crisis'

 

Province argues strike can't legally happen yet, collective bargaining process continues

 

New Brunswick Crown prosecutors and family court Crown counsel have voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action.

 

They have been in contract talks with the provincial government for more than a year and warn the "crisis" facing the criminal justice system is growing, due to recruitment and retention problems.

 

Prosecutors are "crushed under heavy workloads" and it's putting the justice system at risk, Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said in a statement Monday.

 

"Prosecutors are united and saying with one voice: 'The status quo is not working. The government must act,'" she said, noting all members participated in the vote last week.

 

Meanwhile the Department of Justice and Public Safety argues prosecutors are not yet at a point where a legal strike vote can be taken.

 

"The parties have not yet exhausted the collective bargaining process under the Public Service Labour Relations Act," spokesperson Alycia Bartlett said in an emailed statement. "Government remains in active bargaining."

 

A conciliation meeting is scheduled for June 14-15.

 

Prosecutors will continue to work hard toward a fair deal, said Munn, but the situation left them "with no choice but to take action."

 

30 new positions promised a year ago

 

Munn has previously warned about staffing shortages and charges being stayed because of the inability to adhere to timelines imposed by a Supreme Court of Canada ruling. Under the Jordan decision, people who are charged shouldn't have to wait more than 18 or 30 months for a trial, depending on the the kind of trial.

 

In last year's budget, the government added 30 new prosecutor positions, raising the provincial total to about 90. Justice and Public Safety Minister Kris Austin told the legislature it was a "historic" 50 per cent increase.

 

As of March 2024, about 20 positions remain vacant.

 

Munn is calling on the government to back up its commitment to public safety with a willingness to negotiate fairly and present solutions to recruitment and retention.

 

"We're committed to making sure New Brunswickers have the justice system they deserve. But if the government doesn't work with us to fix this crisis, more experienced prosecutors will leave and the crisis will get even worse," she said.

 

"Community public safety could be put at risk."

 

The government values the work of all employees, "will respect the bargaining process and confidentiality," the department spokesperson said.

 

No other details about what prosecutors are seeking in negotiations have been released.

 

In October 2021, Crown prosecutors were among the groups that agreed to wage increases totalling 8.5 per cent over five years, Premier Blaine Higgs had said.

 

They ratified a tentative agreement, with a vote of 42 in favour and 21 opposed, their union, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said at the time.

 

As of April, the wait for a criminal judge-alone trial requiring one to three days is up to a year in some jurisdictions, such as Saint John and Woodstock, according to figures published quarterly by the Court of King's Bench. For longer judge-alone trials, the wait jumps as high as 18 months in Edmundston.

 

For judge-and-jury criminal trials, some people in Fredericton are waiting as long as 22 months, the website shows.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/crown-prosecutors-strike-vote-new-brunswick-contract-talks-1.7215856