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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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Preliminary hearings dropped in effort to speed up courts; lawyers say it will have opposite effect
19-09-2019
Inside a courtroom at the Calgary Courts Centre. POSTMEDIA ARCHIVES
Preliminary inquiries for a majority of criminal offences in Canada are going the way of the dodo bird.
As of Thursday, only those facing a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison or longer will be eligible for a preliminary inquiry, a legal proceeding in which a judge determines whether there is enough evidence to send a case to trial. Under the new federal legislation, preliminary hearings will not be held for many serious charges, such as sexual assault, assault with a weapon, major theft and most firearms offences.
The amendment to the Criminal Code is intended to reduce court delays, but lawyers on both sides of the criminal bar in Calgary said it may have the opposite effect.
“We think it’s going to have the reverse effect than what was intended,” said Ian Savage, president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers’ Association.
“It’s not going to save time, it’s going to increase delays in the court system.”
Savage said the hearings, which tend to be much shorter than trials because the Crown doesn’t have to call all its witnesses and defence lawyers focus on narrower issues, often result in either guilty pleas or charges being dropped.
“Cases (which might otherwise be resolved) will unnecessarily push forward to trial,” Savage said.
And without preliminary inquiries, more cases will be headed to Court of Queen’s Bench, where resources are stretched more than in provincial court.
Rosalind Greenwood, a vice-president with the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association, echoed Savage’s comments.
Greenwood said her organization presented arguments to a Senate committee considering the legislation, expressing their opinion the legislation wouldn’t have its desired effect.
“In our submissions we . . . highlighted that there are many benefits to preliminary inquiries, including that it can narrow issues at trial,” she said.
Not only can they trigger resolution talks, but they have other benefits, Greenwood said.
“Preliminary inquiries can also be really helpful for the Crown because it can highlight difficulties with certain evidence, which you can resolve before trial.”
She said they also noted in their Senate brief that in 2014-15 preliminary hearings were only held in three per cent of all criminal cases.
“If the intended effect is to speed up trials, we don’t expect it’s going to have that effect . . . because they’re a very low percentage,” Greenwood said.
Instead, Parliament should focus on funding the system.
“What is most urgently needed by the criminal justice system are more resources, not only for the courts, but for the prosecution services and Legal Aid.”