Law Times

PAGE 12 Lawyer calls for expanded roles for JPs FOCUS O ated a joint submission on sen- tence, there was a problem. The plea court had closed and there were no judges available to accept the plea and hand down the sentence. As with most pretrial appearances, this one was before a justice of the peace, which meant an adjournment for a month. "He comes back in a month, and unfortunately there's another While the parties had negoti- " BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times Ont., James Morton accompanied his client, a repentant husband accused of assaulting his wife. "He hit his wife and he knew n one of his recent trips to Courtroom 205 at the first appearance court in Newmarket, The former Ontario Bar Association president time has come to hand over more responsibilities to justices of the peace by allowing them to take guilty pleas and hand out sen- tences in some criminal matters. "Instead of says the he shouldn't have done it," says Morton. "The fellow wants to plead guilty and move on with his life. could have had one. If justices of the peace could take pleas and make decisions on the sentence, it gets done right then and it' three dockets, we straight out of the system. I see it as a useful way of clearing out the system of a lot of stuff. s could free up overworked pro- vincial court judges to concen- trate on trial work and give the province' Morton says such a change " Target efforts a boost. In January, Law Times reported s flagging Justice on administrative issue, which means we have to come back in another two months," says Morton. that the project was falling well short of its aim to cut the aver- age number of days and court appearances needed to complete a criminal case in Ontario by 30 per cent each. Only two courts had cut the number of days to disposition with the rest static or 'We have paralegals appearing on summary conviction matters, so why shouldn't we have justices of the peace, who are argu- ably better trained, presiding?' asks James Morton. increasing. Although the number of appearances had decreased by about eight per cent, that' short of the goal. "The backlog for trials in urban centres is fairly considerable, and a lot of that is down to the amount of time judges are spending in plea s still well court," says Morton. "It's impor- s get them to focus on " tant work but not all that chal- lenging. Let' trial work, which is their real area of expertise. Offences Act matters. In criminal cases, their role revolves around bail court and pretrial appear- ances, although Morton says that' peace conduct trials and admin- ister At the moment, justices of the sentences in Provincial more a result of custom than law. As recently as 2010, the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to preside over summary convic- tion matters in R. v. Montgomery. According to Morton, justices s before taking their seats on the bench has become more rigor- ous in recent years. "As with any group, some are better than others," says Morton, who has been involved in continuing legal education for justices of the peace. "But in every group, I have been impressed by the grip they have on administrative law and their professionalism in terms of knowing the law they apply. Morton says he'd confine " of the peace are ready to make the leap despite traditional suspicion of their legal abilities. While some have practised as lawyers, the vast majority of them have non-legal backgrounds. Generally, they have 10 years of paid or volunteer work experience and a university degree or college diploma. Morton says the inten- sive legal training they receive justices of the peace to guilty pleas involving summary con- viction matters, particularly in cases with joint submissions, and leave more serious indict- able offences to judges. "We have paralegals appearing on summary conviction matters, so why shouldn't we have justices of the peace, who are arguably bet- ter trained, presiding? The truth is with joint submissions, that while the judge has discretion, almost invariably it is accepted. In a lot of cases, it' someone to say, 'OK, that doesn't sound crazy. CANADIAN LAW LIST 2012 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Inside you will find: • an up-to-date alphabetical listing of more than 58,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and judges in Canada; • • contact information for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown corporations; legal and government contact information related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid, and other law- related offices of importance. MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK Hardbound • Published February each year On subscription $149 • L88804-571-26084 One-time purchase $165 • L88804-571 • ISSN 0084-8573 Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation CANADIAN LAW LIST Criminal Lawyers' Association, remains unconvinced about an idea that would reduce the role of judges in the criminal justice sys- tem. The qualifications and train- ing of justices of the peace simply don't stack up when compared to judges, according to Boxall. "The CLA is adamantly Norm Boxall, president of the he says. The sentencing process " May 28, 2012 • Law TiMes s rote work that requires '" opposed to the expansion of the role of justices of the peace, more complicated than ever, according to Boxall, who also notes the increasing number of accused defending themselves in court or relying on duty counsel because they can't get access to a legal aid certificate. "These factors make it all is the more important that the screening of the acceptance of the plea and the determination of the sentence be done by the most qualified judicial officer, a judge, man for Attorney General, said the idea falls outside of the ministry' the Brendan Crawley, a spokes- the Ministry of " he says. diction because it involves the assignment of judicial duties. Jane Warwick, executive assis- s juris- tant to the chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, said in a statement that justices of the peace "do not hear guilty pleas in criminal matters because that is the responsibility of judges." She refused to speculate on the effect of allowing justices of the peace to get involved in criminal pleas and sentencing and said the idea "is not under consideration." Lorne Neudorf, an Ontario currently lawyer a doctorate at the University of Cambridge, says Canada' approach to justice has handi- capped reforms. In a 1997 reference on the completing s strict remuneration of provincial judg- es, the Supreme Court of Canada said the principle of judicial inde- pendence extends beyond its mentions in the preamble to the See Reform, page 13 www.lawtimesnews.com CLL - 1-2 pg - 4X.indd 1 3/15/12 3:33 PM

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