Law Times - Newsmakers

top stories Justice on Target gets facelift as project falls short By GLENN KAUTH T he Justice on Target project got a revamp this year. Despite failing to achieve its ambitious original goals, Attorney General John Gerretsen gave Justice on Target a makeover by extending the project with new benchmarks based on the severity of the case. "I guess it was sort of a notional target, quite frankly," said Gerretsen in reference to the project's original goal of reducing the number of appearances and days to disposition in Ontario criminal cases by 30 per cent by 2012. But noting that both appearances and days to disposition have declined somewhat since 2007, Gerretsen insisted Justice on Target remains worthwhile. "There's no reason not to continue it," he said. "Everybody benefits in the long run." The comments came as Law Times took a hard look at the project throughout the year. After obtaining an evaluation of Justice on Target through a freedom of information request, Law Times found it was falling far short of its goals. The post-implementation review took place at the request of the Justice on Target management committee last year. It looked at five Toronto-area courthouses and provided statistics about their successes and failures under the project. According to the review, only courts in Scarborough and Brampton, Ont., had seen a decrease in the average number of days and appearances to disposition for a criminal case between 2010 and 2011. At the remaining courthouses — Etobicoke, Old City Hall, and College Park — the number of days to disposition had actually increased or the figures remained largely stagnant. At College Park, for example, that figure jumped to 290 days in 2010 from 221 in 2007, an increase of 31 per cent. But across the province, the results were more positive, the Ministry of the Attorney General maintained. According to the latest statistics dating up to June 2012 and released by the government this fall, the average number of appearances had declined to 8.5 from 9.3 in 2007. As for days to disposition, the average in June was 192, a decrease of about six per cent from the 2007 figure of 205 days. In addition, some of the courthouses analyzed by the earlier evaluation of the program had since shown some improvement. At College Park, for example, 'There's no reason not to conappearances were down to an avertinue it,' said John Gerretsen. age of 10.6 from 11.5 in 2007. But days to disposition still increased to 248 from 221. At Old City Hall, another courthouse where the statistics weren't looking good, both appearances and days to disposition showed modestly positive results. With the project's initial phase having wrapped up, Gerretsen has decided to continue the project with a revised approach. It will now set benchmarks based on the severity of the matter. The goal is to resolve less complex cases within 90 days and five appearances; more serious ones (until committal to trial) within 240 days and 10 appearances; and matters involving combined federal and provincial charges within 180 days and nine appearances. Among the measures to improve efficiency in the justice system is a focus on expanding court technology to allow more people in remand to appear via video link, said Gerretsen. He also credited faster disclosure by the Crown and police for some of the improvements. Nevertheless, many defence lawyers have remained skeptical of the project's usefulness. A key criticism is that Justice on Target simply encourages people to plead guilty as early as possible by offering them favourable deals that might not be available later on. Justice on Target "is about decreasing the time it takes to plead guilty," defence lawyer Sam Goldstein told Law Times this summer. "It is not about trying to decrease the time it takes to get to trial." Goldstein says the system now encourages people to plead guilty who shouldn't, which isn't good for the individual or the public. When people see they won't get a trial for months, they'd rather resolve the matter quickly, particularly if the Crown is giving them a lighter sentence. For his part, Gerretsen has downplayed the notion that inappropriate guilty pleas have been a factor in the improving statistics. "Personally, I don't buy it," he said. "I don't think that would be appropriate at all." What do your clients need? The means to move on. ™ Guaranteed. Baxter Structures customizes personal injury settlements into tax-free annuities that can help your clients be secure for life. Untitled-4 1 Need more information? Contact us at 1 800 387 1686 or baxterstructures.com 2012 top news, newsmakers, 12-11-21 4:08 PM and cases 13

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