Law Times

TOBY���S ACT COSTLY LITIGATION FOI shows time spent on Ford audit Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes $4.00 ��� Vol. 24, No. 8 P3 FOCUS ON Human Rights Code changes fall short P7 L aw TIMes Immigration Law CO V E R I N G O N TA R I O ��� S L E G A L S C E N E ��� W W W. L AW T I M E S N E W S . CO M ntitled-4 1 P8 March 4, 2013 12-03-20 10:44 A Changes to jury selection ���long overdue��� Iacobucci report says relationship between justice system and First Nations ���in crisis��� BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times F ormer Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci���s recommendations for increasing representation of First Nations people in juries are actions long overdue, some aboriginal lawyers are saying. Iacobucci���s report, released last week, said the relationship between the justice system and First Nations people is ���quite frankly in crisis.��� Iacobucci was appointed by the provincial government to examine why so few aboriginal people sit on juries in Ontario. Despite being convicted in high numbers by the criminal justice system, First Nations people don���t have sufficient representation among the people tasked with deciding their fate. In 17 recommendations, Iacobucci urged the government to create a database of First Nations people who live on reserves so the list can be used to reach out to individuals for jury duty. He also suggested the government make information on the role of jurors available to First Nations people in their own languages, pay jurors in amounts consistent with the cost of living, and amend the language used in jury questionnaires. ���Today, First Nations peoples see themselves either as spectators to or victims of the justice system, whereas historically they were direct participants in the resolution of conflict within their own communities,��� Iacobucci says in the report. The report ���ties the jury issue to the overall estrangement of aboriginal people from the criminal justice See Time, page 4 The jury system lacks credibility with minority communities, says David McRobert. Photo: Laura Pedersen Master calls for flexibility over Rule 48 For Law Times A Chris Jaglowitz says Rule 48 is actually wasting rather than saving court resources. n Ontario court has decided that flexibility is in order when it comes to a new rule imposed in civil litigation cases. Rule 48, implemented in the Rules of Civil Procedure last year, is intended to move cases along and weed out inactive cases. It lays out what���s required in an administrative dismissal and what is necessary to have it reversed. The rule has come under scrutiny by some for being unnecessary and others for aspects of it they say are unclear. In a Feb. 4 decision, Superior Court Master D.E. Short decided the rule shouldn���t outright trump the right of access to justice. His lengthy ruling includes suggestions on what is necessary to contest a dismissal at a status hearing. ���It is appropriate, in the circumstances of this action to provide the plaintiffs with a ���lifeline.��� Having considered this matter at length, I exercise my discretion to allow the plaintiffs��� claim to proceed,��� he wrote. ���While I agree that discouraging delay and for judicial involvement in moving cases forward is highly desirable; I am not convinced that the existing case law establishes or ought to establish this result as trumping the other desirable goals of access to justice and resolution on the merits.��� At the core of 1667207 Ontario Inc. v. Botnick is a real estate transaction that went bad, resulting in a statement of claim naming three defendants issued on April 9, 2009. The defendants argued delay because the case hadn���t moved forward. But Short found there was action on the file. M. Joseal Igbinosun, acting for the numbered company, said now that the argument of delay is quashed, the case can proceed following the timeline laid out by Short in the decision. ���It is strange because it is not every day we have that kind of a motion,��� said Igbinosun. ���His position was that access to justice PM #40762529 BY MARG. BRUINEMAN See Delays, page 4 Recruiting? Post your position on Great rates. Great reach. Great results. Contact Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com for details. JobsInLaw 1-8 pg 5X.indd 1 2/15/11 4:12:27 PM

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