Law Times

PAGE 2 NEWS January 9, 2012 • Law Times Crowns frustrated with Justice on Target Continued from page 1 John Gerretsen was away on vaca- tion last week and was unavailable to comment about his ministry's progress with Justice on Target. Nevertheless, the results have been positive at some of the courthouses studied in the re- view but they're still far short of the program's goals. Prior to the project's launch in Brampton in 2009, for example, the average number of days to disposition in criminal cases was 241 while the average number of appearances was 10.1. By December 2010, those fi gures had decreased to 239 and nine respectively. In Scarborough, where the project began at the end of 2009, the average number of days to dis- position was initially 254 and the average number of appearances was 12.7. As of December 2010, those numbers had decreased to 237 and 11 respectively. Nevertheless, the review advis- es taking these fi gures with some skepticism given that while some courthouses showed improve- ments on a year-to-year basis, the numbers may actually be worse than the 2007 baseline. But inconsistent fi gures aren't the only problem with the pro- gram. According to the review, several members of the court, including judges, court service workers, defence counsel, and Crown attorneys, are skeptical of Justice on Target. It notes, for example, that many stakehold- ers are concerned about a lack of direction from the project's lo- cal leadership team, the absence of funding for Justice on Target in general, and communication about its goals and progress. Toronto defence lawyer Dan- iel Brown has his own concerns about unintended negative eff ects from the program. "Th ere are a few things going on behind the scenes in this," he says. "Greater emphasis is being put on pleading guilty from the onset, and while the number of appearances may seem to go down, really it's leaving people to defend themselves who may not understand the extent of their rights and how to proceed in cases where they're being asked to consider a guilty plea." Th e result, says Brown, is a "class of people who have pleaded guilty who didn't need to have a criminal record." New drinking and driving rules also come into play, says Brown, who notes drivers ac- cused of the off ence are being off ered lighter sentences if they plead guilty early on as part of an eff ort to ease hefty trial lists. "Now they can plead guilty in the fi rst 90 days and evade harsher punishment," he notes. "In some cases, that is truly needed, but in others it just puts a signifi cant emphasis on them pleading guilty when they may not need to." A focus group of Crown at- torneys held at the Old City Hall courthouse in Toronto as part of the review also revealed concerns about impaired driving cases. It noted they were confused about whether or not to off er favourable plea bargains as per the new legis- lation and Justice on Target. "Crown focus group atten- dants indicated a clear sense of frustration with Justice on Tar- get," the review stated. "Some expressed a belief that they are being held responsible for achieving Justice on Target ob- jectives, despite many factors being outside of their control. In addition, many focus group attendees expressed confusion resulting from perceived mixed messages from the Ministry of the Attorney General." At the same time, Crowns across all fi ve courthouses stud- ied in the review said their main concern was a lack of funding and resources to support the project's goals. A recurring complaint was about the need for additional staff . Employees at the Crown's of- fi ce at College Park, for example, said they were concerned about staffi ng levels and being "pushed to their limits" under the project, according to the review. "A focus group with assis- tant Crowns revealed that there are still challenges within the Crown's offi ce and that support for Justice on Target is not uni- versal," the review stated. In addition to concerns over limited resources and increasing responsibilities under the proj- ect, the review noted Crowns felt changes under the program were placing a heavy burden on their already-overworked schedules. Th e review also found skepti- cism about the project among judges. In Brampton, for exam- ple, judges were worried about the "unintentional consequences" of Justice on Target. Crawley, however, said the project will ultimately help all jus- tice participants use their resourc- es more eff ectively in the long run. "By resolving straightforward, non-complex cases faster, all jus- tice participants — judiciary, de- fence, police, Crown — can use their resources more eff ectively to focus on serious and diffi cult cases and to better assist witnesses, vic- tims, clients, and the public." Nevertheless, many court staff UNCOVER THE DETAILS OF A CASE FROM EVERY ANGLE Litigator Powerful Insight for Compelling Arguments Litigator from Westlaw® Canada combines litigation-focused research with practice tools to support your strategic decisions and automate your most laborious tasks. Litigator contains Canada's largest collection of online court documents – more than 100,000 skillfully drafted pleadings, motions and facta from leading Canadian cases. Get Better Results Faster with Westlaw® Canada Call 1-866-609-5811 or visit www.westlawcanada.com involved in the project have re- fused to implement its activities or have done so and later aban- doned them due to concerns such as a lack of resources, ac- cording to the review. Judges at College Park, for example, were skeptical about the "fanfare" sur- rounding Justice on Target. "Interviewees reported that judges at College Park have been very skeptical about Justice on Target," the review noted. "Some feel that the judges were await- ing signs of progress and change driven by the ministry to sup- port what was viewed as a high amount of initial fanfare sur- rounding the initiative. When progress was slow to come, the skepticism remained and par- ticipation in Justice on Target among judges was low." Similarly, although most lo- cal leaders were verbally sup- portive of the project, "several interviewees expressed con- cerns about the project's targets, which they felt were politically imposed and potentially unat- tainable," the review stated. Despite these concerns, Craw- ley said Justice on Target is hav- ing a positive impact. "For the 12-month period of November 2010 to October 2011, 43 out of 60 sites, nearly three-quarters of all criminal courts in Ontario, successfully lowered the average number of appearances to dis- position compared to before the strategy began," he said. Still, Brown says there need to be improvements before the people working at courthouses will begin to warm to the idea. "Right now, the project is really inconsistent," he says. "Th ere are some good results and some bad results and sometimes it does create a system that isn't a practical reality. For a map of the Justice on Target results by courthouse, see page 3. www.lawtimesnews.com

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