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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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N.B. prosecutors say recent sexual assault stay is evidence of resource shortage

01-03-2023

Urgent calls have been made to address the provincial criminal justice system after a decision was made to stay a sexual assault case due to the lack of prosecutors.

 

According to the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, the judge’s decision, made in Moncton last Friday, is directly linked to the shortage of resources.

 

“As prosecutors, that’s sort of worst-case scenario for us,” said Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association.

 

“What we do isn’t about wins and losses, what it is about is seeking justice.”

 

The association has repeatedly asked the provincial government for aid, said Munn, as members began to reach “crisis points.”

 

She said it’s “unfortunate” a file as important as sexual assault resulted in a stay.

 

As the system continues to grapple with low salaries relative to the law system, and a heavy workload, the association has warned there’s “potential” for more files to be stayed.

 

Resources

 

According to Munn, figures crunched indicate, to address the workload, they need an additional 40 prosecutors on the criminal side, and 10 family Crown counsel.

 

A request for an interview with New Brunswick Attorney General Hugh J.A. (Ted) Flemming was not granted to Global News.

 

“In New Brunswick, court decisions to stay a charge because of an unreasonable pre-trial delay are very exceptional,” a statement from Flemming reads.

 

“Public Prosecutions Services reviews every file that is stayed for delay, to ensure lessons are learned and the risk is reduced going forward.”

 

Set by the Supreme Court of Canada, the presumptive ceiling for a case in a provincial court is 18 months.

 

Munn noted this mark is meant to be a maximum, not something to be strived for.

 

“If you’re a victim and you’re waiting 18 months to have a matter heard and concluded, that’s 18 months where you can’t move on, you can’t maybe get the help you need, you can’t seek closure,” she said.

 

System underfunded, says prof

 

Nicole O’Byrne, an associate professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick, said there has been a chronic underfunding of the criminal justice system for decades.

 

Only now, the “chickens have come home to roost,” in part due to retirements and increases in tuition.

 

“Well, a lot of it boils down to money, you need to pay people fair wages, you need to have enough positions, you can’t hold back on judicial appointments for budgetary reasons,” O’Byrne told Global News Wednesday.

 

Perhaps the most substantial area in need of a cash infusion, according to O’Byrne, is the legal aid system.

 

“Legal aid funding has not kept up, so there is a shortage of Crown prosecutors, but their job is made more difficult when you have people who are charged with an offence who don’t have access to legal counsel, so they self-represent,” she stated.

 

“That drags things on, takes up more times, and the Crown prosecutors have to do even more heavy-lifting to make sure that the person on the opposing sides constitutional rights are respected.”

 

As for Munn, with a provincial budget expected in the coming weeks, she hopes government will commit funds to help the system from slipping further into crisis.

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/9520896/n-b-prosecutors-sexual-assault-stay-resource-shortage/