Law Times

Page 6 September 26, 2016 • Law timeS www.lawtimesnews.com be achieved when people fight for it. This fight has already been underway for years, and it continues. Any tool that can be used to illustrate and attack such a sweeping problem can be a powerful tool, for licensees and allies alike. LT Fixing the judicial mess W hen Justin Trudeau took over, he discovered a huge judicial mess left behind by the previous Conserva- tive government. For the better part of a decade, trials had been cancelled at every level in this country because we don't have enough judges to hear all the legal cases before the courts, or cases being heard end up taking longer than they should. People have been losing faith in our justice system. A Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which spent the better part of this year study- ing the disaster in the courts, found that the median time to complete a criminal case in provincial court after a charge has been laid is 123 days. That's four months. In Superior Court, it's 514 days. That's more than a year. Some accused spend that time in jail unless they have parole. If they're acquitted, there is noth- ing even approaching an apology for the damage caused. The senators' report was entitled "De- laying Justice is Denying Justice." The message was clear enough. It accused the government of "complacency towards de- lay." The report suggested the government should even try using "shadow courts" — the practice of over-booking courtrooms to ensure a maximum use of space because some trials do take longer than expected. Something had to be done. Something was. The Supreme Court of Canada and Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin called court de- lays "lamentable." They were so fed up that they put a limit on court delays. From now on, 30-month delays will be the limit in su- perior courts. In provincial courts, it will be 18 months. Anything more will be considered "unreasonable" and charges will be automatically stayed against the accused. When Justin Trudeau came to power, he knew that justice would be one of the major tests of his new government. Trudeau looked around his cabinet and picked the best and brightest legal mind that he had. That was Jody Wilson- Raybould. He appointed her justice min- ister and threw all the legal and judicial work he had into her lap. The Senate report indicated the na- tion was short about 50 judges. The judi- cial community called for more judicial appointments right away. Judges and lawyers across the country cried out for immediate action. In the report, it was sug- gested that Wilson-Raybould take "immediate steps" to put in place "an effective ap- pointment system" of judges by making sure judicial va- cancies would be filled more promptly from now on. Wilson-Raybould said she had been working on such a project all summer, but the facts showed she had only filled 15 judicial posts in six months. It was hardly convincing. The senators told her to forget for the time being about her new project for choosing judges because existing delays were "hobbling the criminal justice system." Wilson-Raybould was told by the sen- ators that instead she should grab hold of the list of prospective judges drawn up and vetted by the judicial advisory committees of the previous Conservative government and use that list to select new judges. That would clear up the backlog. Then, afterwards, she could prepare her own new procedures for the appointing of future judges. Wilson-Raybould and Trudeau had known that Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell would be stepping down Sept. 1. But when he did step down earlier this month, the Trudeau government wasn't ready with a replacement. It still hadn't found one by last week. Now, the senators are saying they will be working on the shortage of judges all fall and winter and will have another re- port ready in the spring. For the next few weeks, they are in British Columbia and Alberta hearing witnesses. There's been a pleasant surprise. Judg- es are lining up to testify before them. Judges know what's been happening in the courts, and they don't like it one bit, any more than do lawyers and people appearing in court. So, now, we have a Senate committee, judges, lawyers and everybody else in court urging the justice minister and her boss to get cracking on the problem. When the chief justice of the highest court in the land delivers a speech to the Canadian Bar Association ripping into you, it's time to pay attention to what she is saying. The next Senate committee report should be coming out in March. We'll be counting how many new judges have been appointed. LT uRichard Cleroux is a freelance re- porter and columnist on Parlia- ment Hill. 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"The qualitative and quantitative data the Working Group ob- tained from the engagement process identified widespread barriers experienced by racialized licensees within the legal professions at all stages of their careers," the report says. Its recommendations are being heralded as a good first step — an assessment I think is correct. In my opinion, the most powerful rec- ommendations speak to gathering and sharing data, like the pro- posal that the LSUC require each legal workplace with 10 licensees or more to do an equality, diversity and inclusion self-assessment to give to the LSUC. Lawyers, we know, hold special positions of trust and power in society. Raj Anand, a co-chairman of the Challenges Faced by Ra- cialized Licensees Working Group, says, "The independent research that we did, as well as our consideration as a working group, basically confirmed the anecdotal evidence that we all knew about." Data gives teeth to anecdotal experience, and it provides a strong platform to pursue change. I believe power (and systemic change) is not given freely, but it can The Hill Richard Cleroux

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