Law Times

MEGA MERGERS CONVICTION TOSSED Case reiterates need to answer jurors��� questions Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes $4.00 ��� Vol. 24, No. 11 P5 Small firms must adapt to changing market FOCUS ON P7 L aw TIMEs P8 Energy 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 March 25, 2013 ntitled-4 1 Justice spending up 66% in 10 years 12-03-20 10:44 AM New report shows Ontario contributing to rising court costs BY SIOBHAN McCLELLAND same period with the number of lawyers and staff more than doubling. And while the budget officer put some of the proxpenditures on the Canadian vincial increases down to higher capital criminal justice system have inspending on the courts in Ontario, the creased significantly in the last auditor general���s report offers other rea10 years despite decreasing crime sons for the increased expenditures. rates, a new report has found. The audit report revealed that the In a March 20 report, the Office of the criminal law division of the Ministry of the Parliamentary Budget Officer concluded Attorney General had operating expenses that expenditures on criminal justice have totalling $256 million for the 2011-12 fisincreased by 66 per cent since 2002, reachcal year with 84 per cent of those funds ing $20.3 billion this year. going to staffing. While the number of The report looks at expenses for the Crown employees has more than doubled entire criminal justice system, including in the last 20 years, the number of cases has policing, courts, and corrections. remained almost the same with 572,000 According to the budget officer���s rematters in 1992 and 576,000 in 2011. port, court expenditures at the federal In an e-mail, ministry spokesman level have decreased; however, court exBrendan Crawley said the rising staffpenses at the provincial and territorial ing costs and stagnant caseloads are due levels have increased to 0.173 per cent to the fact that cases ���are more complex of gross domestic product from 0.152 than they were 20 years ago and Crowns per cent. These expenditures are for both are also doing more today than they were The Ministry of the Attorney General has significantly boosted spending on staffing and capital for the court system, two civil and criminal activities as no data recent reports have found. 20 years ago.��� He cited several reasons for Photo: Laura Pedersen sources were available to separate the two this, including constitutional challenges, The federal budget officer isn���t the only official raising the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences, and types of expenses. While taxpayer dollars are flowing into criminal justice, concerns about spending on the criminal justice system. more complex disclosure requirements. A 2012 Ontario auditor general���s report suggested that the budget officer���s report noted the Canadian crime rate As millions of taxpayer dollars go towards staffing, the has decreased by 30.6 per cent in the last 10 years to 5,757 while the number of criminal cases in Ontario has remained audit report concluded ministry offices don���t have adequate incidents per 100,000 people from 7,516. The report noted relatively stagnant in the last 20 years, taxpayers��� money has systems in place to hold their employees accountable by gone towards paying for more Crown employees during that the crime rate has been declining steadily since 1991. See Ministry���s, page 4 For Law Times E West Toronto clinic gets funding lifeline W est Toronto Community Legal Services will keep its doors open as Legal Aid Ontario has agreed to continue funding it for the time being. The clinic���s future had been in jeopardy after LAO said it would withdraw its support due to ���financial, governance, and human resource management concerns.��� The clinic receives about $600,000 per year from Legal Aid Ontario, its sole funder. It provides legal services to up to 1,000 clients every year. But after LAO expressed concerns about the clinic���s operations, the money was going to run out on March 31. But last week, LAO announced that its clinic committee board had approved a submission that will see the clinic receive continued funding while it addresses the concerns. ���LAO has stipulated terms and conditions related to board governance, operational and financial management, and LAO oversight,��� LAO said in a press release. ���These terms and conditions will help LAO maintain its legal requirements to provide appropriate oversight, value for taxpayers, and delivery of high-quality legal services to the community in west Toronto.��� The new agreement ���defers reconsideration��� of LAO���s clinic committee board decision not to approve the clinic���s funding application, says LAO spokesman Kristian Justesen. ���LAO staff recognize that [the clinic] has started to demonstrate genuine effort to improve client services and help ensure the effective use of public funds in terms of moving in the right direction to address persistent financial, governance, and human resources management,��� says Justesen, adding that the deal will give the clinic eight months to build on recent improvements. LAO won���t release the terms and conditions of the continued funding until the clinic has received them in writing, says Justesen. ���This time frame provides [the clinic] with two fiscal quarters to demonstrate its efforts to address the clinic���s persistent financial, governance, and human resources management issues.��� LT Lawyer Barbara Warner is among the staff affected by the funding decision at West Toronto Community Legal Services. PM #40762529 BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times Photo: Breanne Nicholson ONTARIO LAWYER���S PHONE BOOK 2013 YOUR MOST COMPLETE DIRECTORY OF ONTARIO LAWYERS, LAW FIRMS, JUDGES AND COURTS More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: 26,000 lawyers 9,000 law ���rms and corporate of���ces OLPB_LT_Feb11_13.indd 1 Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation 13-02-06 12:58 PM

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