Justice | We’re going straight into the wall

We have three bad news for you about our criminal justice system.

The first: the system is currently in crisis. Mainly because there is a lack of support staff in the courthouses.

The second: the crisis will worsen. Because the Court of Quebec has decided that its judges in the criminal division will now sit less often. It will lengthen the delays, to the point where about a third of the cases would be at risk of falling through, according to the Department of Justice.

The last and most depressing: there is no solution in sight.

The only two protagonists who can resolve the crisis, the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec Lucie Rondeau and the Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette, have engaged in fierce litigation before the courts. Neither wants to give an inch, as our colleague Louis-Samuel Perron explained in a recently published survey. All this while the system is “almost at the breaking point”, says the president of Quebec M^e Catherine Claveau.

Until this fall, the judges of the Criminal Division of the Court of Quebec sat two days out of three (they deliberated and managed cases on the third day). They now sit every other day (ratio 1/1), ruled Chief Justice Rondeau. These are 4,500 fewer sitting days per year.

With this ill-advised decision, the Court of Quebec has just added enormous pressure to a system that is out of breath.

In Montreal, a two-day trial is set in 14 months. The maximum delay for the Jordan decision is 18 months (in 95% of cases), otherwise there is a risk of a stay of proceedings.

Defense attorneys know to use a calculator.

To compensate, Chief Judge Lucie Rondeau suggested that Quebec create 41 new judge positions. Quebec said no, Chief Justice Rondeau introduced her 1:1 ratio, and Quebec is challenging this decision in court. This is the definition of a dialogue of the deaf…

Judicial independence is a pillar of our rule of law. By virtue of this cardinal principle, it is up to the Chief Justice of the Court of Québec, and she alone, to administer her court and determine the workload of her judges. Above all, we do not question that.

But just because you have the power to make an irresponsible decision doesn’t mean you have to.

Based on a 43-page report, Chief Justice Rondeau decided that the complexity of the causes and the law justifies the transition to the new 1/1 ratio. Of course the criminal law has become more complex. The new ratio may be justified in some cases. But… we have no proof! The report contains almost no figures and no comparison with judges elsewhere in the country. In short, Chief Justice Rondeau has not offered the beginning of a prima facie case that the new 1:1 ratio is justified.

The Court of Québec has a moral duty to make its management decisions in the best interests of justice.

We therefore implore Chief Justice Rondeau to return to the old ratio. At least the time to find an acceptable compromise. Even if Quebec gave in, it would take 18 months to find the additional judges.

If no one gives in, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions has confirmed that he will be forced to make “difficult decisions” and to prioritize certain files to the detriment of others in order to respect the Jordan ruling.

Right now, the most important thing isn’t whose fault it is, but who can press the brake before you hit a wall at full speed. That person is Chief Justice Rondeau.

That does not mean that the Legault government is not wrong. Until the decision of the Court of Quebec, the majority of current delays in the system were attributable to the Government of Quebec.

Courthouses have been short of support staff, particularly court clerks, for years. On November 28, 10 rooms were unable to open in the morning at the Montreal courthouse because there was a lack of staff (this is half of the rooms of the Court of Quebec). For court clerks, the problem is simple: they are underpaid (maximum of $49,661 per year) compared to municipal clerks in Montreal (maximum of $69,100) and the private sector. There is currently a shortage of 50 court clerks and 50 judicial assistants, who also act as court clerks.

This problem, Quebec can solve it alone and quickly.