Bid to speed up court process great news, and long overdue
Metroland - Halton Division
Section: Milton Canadian Champion
Byline: Stephanie Hounsell, Around Town
Column: 6
Dateline: Article
Week after week, month after month, sometimes even year after year; nothing but waiting, tormented by the unknown.
It must be torture for families whose lives have become wrapped up in a court case to wait sometimes years for a resolution. Unfortunately, that's all too often the case.
I'm thinking especially about the victims involved and their loved ones, but also the accused persons and their families - they are, after all, innocent until proven guilty.
Take, for example, the case of a local high school student who was killed in 2006 when she was struck by a vehicle while rollerblading near her rural Milton home.
The accused in the incident has been before the courts for more than two years. I can only imagine the added stress this would place on the family of the young woman.
So needless to say, I was glad to hear a recent announcement from Attorney General Chris Bentley that Ontario is setting targets to reduce the provincial average of days and court appearances needed to complete a criminal charge by 30 per cent over the next four years through its 'Justice on Target' strategy.
An expert panel has been formed to provide advice on how to move cases through the justice system faster.
It's no surprise that the court system has become increasingly clogged.
In the past 15 years, the length of criminal cases has nearly doubled; in 1992, cases were in the system for an average of 115 days. By last year, the number had jumped to 205 days, states a press release issued by the Ministry of the Attorney General. Two hundred and five? If only the cases I've followed had been resolved in 205 days. A quick scan of recent cases covered by the Champion show durations ranging from just over a year to three-and-a-half years.
In one case a man who pleaded guilty to child pornography was dealt with in six months, but that doesn't seem to be the norm.
Ironically enough, in the case that took three-and-a-half years, the individual was acquitted. Can you imagine being before the courts for that long before being found not guilty?
Three of the cases I'm currently following have been ongoing for a year- and- a-halfà so far.
I'm sure the backlog in courtrooms and the difficulty lawyers have scheduling court time is a multi-pronged issue. But one aspect I've personally seen is lawyers who don't arrive prepared. This leads to adjournments, with the court room then sitting empty for the rest of the day - space and time that other lawyers would jump at for their clients.
And it leads me to shake my head.
I hope the Justice on Target strategy yields results and that it's not just another example of expensive consultation that doesn't inspire change.
And I hope for the sake of all those involved that the lengthy cases I'm currently covering are soon resolved.
It's only fair.
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