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Law timeS • September 7, 2010 Monitor needed: lawyer Continued from page 1 says. "If you're 21 or 22 years old, who knows how this information will be treated or understood 20 years from now?" A spokesman for the Toronto police confirmed that the names of those arrested and released are logged in an "occurrence" da- tabase that officers may access. Nevertheless, he notes the ma- jority of protesters were held for breach of peace, an offence for which authorities don't release records during employment checks. "Anybody concerned about employment records, that would not be released," Mark Pugash tells Law Times. However, Des Rosiers and two of the Toronto lawyers be- hind two class actions launched against the Toronto Police Ser- vices Board, the federal attor- ney general, and, in one of the lawsuits, the Peel Police Services Board, note the insidious poten- tial of informal police databases separate from the Canadian Police Information Centre for criminal convictions, an issue that came to light last year when it was revealed authorities in Windsor and Barrie, Ont., were passing information from their files over to Crown prosecu- tors who used it for vetting jury members in murder trials. In the wake of the G20 con- troversy, the Toronto board named lawyer Douglas Hunt, a former Ontario assistant deputy attorney general, to develop the terms of reference for an inde- pendent civilian review of po- lice actions. It will be restricted to the statutory authority of the board, which doesn't include public complaints about indi- vidual conduct by officers. The Ontario ombudsman is also investigating. Murray Klippenstein, one of two lawyers from his firm who filed notification of a class ac- tion in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, says the ques- tion of hidden police files on hundreds of protesters arrested and detained without charge is just one of the issues the lawsuit will likely probe. "The existence and purpose of that information is a real live issue that probably should be looked at, and those mass arrests highlight that problem," Klip- penstein tells Law Times. David Midanik, a criminal defence lawyer who deals with constitutional issues and has represented several high-profile cases, says Toronto police and other agencies shouldn't be allowed to maintain any re- cords of those released without charge. "It's wrong, it's ridiculous, es- pecially in the age of computers," he says. "It's just insane. There should be an independent moni- tor of the agencies who is respon- sible for monitoring the informa- tion they get and also mandating destruction of it." LT Untitled-3 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 9/1/10 3:28:53 PM NEWS PAGE 5 Most get decision the day they apply: LAO Continued from page 1 and we'd know if they were accepted or not. That doesn't happen anymore. It's difficult for an adult, let alone a youth, to stay on the phone for hours and hours." In an emailed statement on the issue, LAO spokesman Peter Boisseau said al- most two-thirds of applicants get a de- cision on the day they apply. He also noted LAO has recently discontinued its call-back service because it was ineffec- tive. "Agents returned calls at the end of the day but usually would not be able to reach callers. Rather than continue with voicemail services, the [client service cen- tre] focused on placing more agents on the phones to answer live calls." But Strezos says lawyers are seeing pro- lems that could have a ripple effect through the criminal justice system given the po- tential for Charter of Rights and Freedoms issues around reasonable delay. "The longer people have to wait for le- gal aid approval or the more difficult it is to get through, it becomes a real access- to-justice problem. Unless the system can respond more quickly, we'll see more of this occur." In Cornwall, Ont., criminal defence lawyer Donald Johnson says accused there are also finding it more difficult to get legal aid certificates. "At one time, we might get up to 10 a week coming in with legal aid certificates but now we're down to maybe three to five a week." Many accused in Cornwall are unable to get a certificate before their first ap- pearance because they need a referral from duty counsel, which adds an extra step to the application process. Having duty counsel act as gatekeepers to legal aid is something that makes Christopher Hicks uncomfortable. The partner at Hicks Block Adams LLP says accused can feel pressure to agree to resolutions based on the superficial assessment of the case by duty counsel. "You can't take the under- privileged people in society and shepherd them into guilty pleas without the benefit of any kind of legal advice whatsoever." Hicks ran into his own problems with legal aid earlier this year when his firm found itself on the brink of bankruptcy due to a $500,000 debt owed to it as a result of payment delays while LAO re- structured its payment unit. The firm took out an emergency loan and only got help after a story about its plight appeared in the Toronto Star in June. "They paid attention to us for a while and got us out of the financial hole we were in," Hicks says. "But you're always behind with legal aid. They undertake to pay between 30 and 90 days but they just don't always get that done, especially with all the upheaval in the structure." Hicks says LAO's new block fees intro- duced in May have complicated billing problems for legal aid lawyers. For ex- ample, he notes the inability to separate clients' block-fee billings from their ordi- nary charges means lawyers have to wait to settle all charges before submitting their fees. At the same time, Hicks points out that problems with the new online portal for block fees have prevented him from billing for them anyway. LAO's payment restructuring period was originally supposed to end in June, but that last estimate was later revised to September and now Boisseau says "the goal is to eliminate the backlog of over- due discretion accounts within the next 30 days." LT International Bar Association Conference 2010 Vancouver is a dynamic, multicultural city set in a spectacular natural environment. As both a vital centre of international trade and business, and a home to Canadian culture, sport and outdoor activities, Vancouver promises to be another perfect venue for the International Bar Association's Annual Conference in 2010. • The largest gathering of the international legal community in the world – a meeting place of more than 4,000 lawyers and legal professionals from around the world • More than 200 working sessions covering all areas of practice relevant to international legal practitioners • The opportunity to generate new business with the leading firms in the world's key cities • Registration fee which entitles you to attend as many working sessions throughout the week as you wish • Up to 25 hours of continuing legal education and continuing professional development • A variety of social functions providing ample opportunity to network and see the city's key sights • Integrated guest programme • Excursion and tours programme To register please contact: International Bar Association 10th Floor, 1 Stephen Street, London W1T 1AT Tel: +44 (0)20 7691 6868 Fax: +44 (0)20 7691 6544 www.ibanet.org/conferences/Vancouver2010 OFFICIAL CORPORATE SUPPORTER Images courtesy of Tourism Vancouver