“We can’t go on like this,” said Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Richard Wagner, about the lack of judges: according to him, this lack even risks undermining democracy.
Chief Justice Wagner held a press conference Tuesday morning in Ottawa.
Among the topics he discussed was this heartfelt plea for the urgent appointment of judges across the country.
“Nominations are made in a reasonable time. It is possible to do it. What is the problem ? I do not know. »
He said he sent a letter on this subject to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to inform him of the state of the situation and the potential impact on the justice system and on the population.
The Supreme Court’s Jordan decision provides that criminal cases must proceed within a period of 30 months in the Superior Court and 18 months in the provincial courts, because the accused have the right to be tried within reasonable. If this time limit is exceeded, the defendants may request the termination of the criminal proceedings against them.
But if domestic violence, murder and sexual assault cases are dropped, people risk losing faith in the justice system, the chief justice said.
And that risks undermining democracy.
It therefore enjoins the federal government to fill vacancies in the superior courts and asks the provincial governments to invest more in their justice systems.
There is a lack of judges and those in office have more decisions to make and more tasks to perform: this has created mental health problems, he warns.
He says he is confident: when the Prime Minister received his letter, he telephoned him. Which is proof, according to Mr. Wagner, that he takes the situation seriously.
In Alberta, for example, 22% of active criminal cases have already exceeded the 30-month deadline and 91% of them involved violent crimes, illustrated the chief justice.
Judges are reduced to having to make choices: they must determine which causes will be heard first and which will remain at the bottom of the pile, and therefore at risk of being the subject of a stay of proceedings. The judges do what they can, “with the means at hand”, says the chief judge.
” This is unacceptable. »
The Jordan stoppage is not the cause of these problems, but we have to adapt to it, he insisted.