Pretrial detention - an election issue?

"The story below does point out a real problem. But the problem is the delay in getting to trial and not accused ragging the puck. Accused may be placated by 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 credit but they all, at least in my experience, would prefer bail"

Inmates clogging system to get sentence credits: B.C solicitor general

CanWest News Service
Byline: Kim Bolan
Source: Canwest News Service
CanwestNews Service

VANCOUVER- B.C.'s solicitor general says some criminals are putting off court cases in order to get extra credit for their pretrial time in jail, jamming up the entire system.

And John van Dongen said Friday that ending the practice of giving offenders two-for-one credit for time served before they are convicted should help alleviate the problem.

Van Dongen said federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is now onside with his provincial counterparts in tackling the issue following a two-day meeting in Quebec City that ended Friday.

Van Dongen said delays between when people are charged and when they go to trial have increased dramatically in B.C. in recent years, stressing the provincial justice system. Part of the problem could be that accused deliberately put off trials to maximize their pretrial custody to their advantage, he said.

``We think part of the problem and why we are getting so many pretrial appearances and why we are getting so many more people in remand is that it has been the practice that people get two for one or three for one credit for days that they spent for remand prior to trial,'' he said.

Currently, someone who waits in jail for six months before going to trial and being convicted usually gets a 12-month sentence reduction. But van Dongen said there is finally a national consensus that the ratio should be reduced to 1.5 to one, and to one to one in cases where the accused has violated bail conditions or committed another offence.

The double-time precedent ``provides the wrong kind of incentive to players in the system and is partly responsible for both the number of pretrial appearances and the time delay created by those,'' van Dongen said.

The ministers will meet again in Alberta in six months ``to push ahead some of these specifics on organized crime and on reform in the justice system,'' he said.
``We are looking harder at efficiencies and effectiveness measures to make the justice system work better. Justice delayed is justice denied,'' van Dongen said.

``Where you have rules and procedures that incent defence lawyers to delay unfairly and inappropriately, we are appealing to everyone in the system to recognize the failures and injustice that that creates.''

For example, many simple administrative tasks, such as setting or changing a trial date, are done in court, with all the judicial staff brought in for brief appearances, he said.

``We have to manage the system better,'' van Dongen said, adding that reducing the number of cases that end with sentence bonuses will help.

``It certainly moves it in the right direction. It represents a very significant improvement over what we have,'' he said. ``I believe we need the right kind of incentives to make the system work the way a reasonable person would expect it to work.''

Van Dongen said there are sometimes more than a dozen appearances by an accused before a trial begins.

``We have got less cases going through the courts, yet they are taking longer and the pretrial phase has basically gotten out of control.''