Law Times

Law Times • December 4, 2017 Page 3 www.lawtimesnews.com Amalgamation is 'a poor decision' Lawyers oppose court closures at forum BY AIDAN MACNAB For Law Times T he planned centraliza- tion of Toronto's satel- lite provincial courts to a new courthouse will make accessing the justice sys- tem more difficult, said lawyers and other community activists at a community forum Nov. 28. The plan by the Ministry of the Attorney General is to close satellite courthouses around Toronto and move their opera- tions, for both youth and adult offenders, to one downtown location at 11 Centre Ave., near Queen Street and University Av- enue, by 2021. The Nov. 28 event — called the Community Forum on the Future of Youth Court in Toronto — was organized by Peacebuilders and the Toronto Lawyers Association, along with community organizations such as the John Howard Society of Toronto, Justice for Children and Youth, the Zero Gun Vio- lence Movement and the Cross- Over Youth Project. "The court, if it is centralized downtown, will be unreachable for a lot of young people," said Eva Marszewski, a lawyer, pro- fessor and the founder of Peace- builders, which partners with schools, jails and community organizations to assist economic and socially marginalized youth gain access to the justice system and promote a restorative ap- proach to criminal justice. "What will happen is there will be an in- crease in absent kids who should be appearing in court. There will be bench warrants. There will be adjournments. There will be in- creased costs just in terms of the day-to-day administration." Marszewski said taking the courts out of communities in Toronto's periphery and forcing those charged with crimes to come downtown will increase failures to appear and put an obstacle in front of families of youth offenders who want to at- tend court. TLA president Melanie Man- chee said the amalgamation is a bad idea. "We also think that the elimination of the satellite courts, not just for youth but for adults, was a poor decision and to bring more people into down- town Toronto," she said. In May, the Ministry of the Attorney General told the CBC that the court amalgamation will save the province $700 mil- lion over 30 years. The new courthouse will handle both youth and adult of- fenders, said Marszewski, Man- chee and others at the forum. After the speakers finished, the f loor was open to input from community members. Manchee said that, as a result of the consolidation, young of- fenders would be forced to share space with adults, who may be negative role models or have a frightening and intimidating effect on the young people. This was a frequent topic raised by speakers and audience members at the forum. Superior Court Associate Chief Justice Frank Marrocco, one of the speakers at the forum, said bringing the youth and adults under the same roof in the justice system is a step backward. "The idea that young crimi- nals and adult criminals would be in the same building is some- thing that, quite frankly, at this particular stage, I never thought I would hear again," he said. Manchee said that children and adults are separated in ev- ery other area of society, so they should be separated in the crim- inal justice system as well. "We start with the premise that in most facets of our society that involve children and youth, we separate them," Manchee said. "So why wouldn't we keep that concept of a safe, separate space for youth and children in- volved in their first experience in the youth justice system?" Closing the courts in Scar- borough, at 1911 Eglinton Street East, near Jane Street and Finch Avenue, at 1000 Finch Avenue West, and downtown, at 311 Jarvis Street, will take the justice system out of those communi- ties when the system should be bringing justice to these com- munities, said Marrocco. "That's really the obligation. It's to bring the court and what amounts to justice, whether it's youth justice or any other, bring it to the communities," he said. The courthouse at 311 Jarvis Street is home to Peacebuilders' restorative justice clinic. There are other programs based out of that location geared toward in- tervening on young offenders so they do not carry on similar be- haviours into adulthood. Man- chee says that groups providing social services and diversionary programs feel they were not prop- erly consulted in this process. "There's a feeling among the social service providers that deal with youth that they were not extensively consulted about this plan. I have not heard a voice from that community that says it's a great plan to move youth into the new courthouse," Manchee said. She said those providers, such as Peacebuilders, that de- velop the programs that work in the field with young offend- ers should have an authoritative voice on whether this plan goes forward. She says she hopes they persuade the provincial govern- ment to change its mind. Marszewski said the forum heard from voices that the Min- istry of the Attorney General needs to hear. The ministry was contacted by Law Times, but it did not pro- vide comment by deadline. LT NEWS Eva Marszewski said the planned cen- tralization of Toronto's satellite provincial courts is not advantageous for those work- ing to help young offenders. Tim Boland Darcy Romaine Tel: 905-841-5717 www.bolandhowe.com THE PROOF IS IN THE PRECEDENTS Pelletier v. Ontario Provincial Police, 2013 ONSC 6988 For further liability verdicts, ask for our Trial Report Card BICYCLE ACCIDENT? Consider referring your client to us Untitled-5 1 2017-09-06 2:17 PM

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