While delays continue to accumulate in courthouses and cases are postponed for lack of personnel, the share of the Quebec budget allocated to Justice does not reflect the seriousness of the crisis that is raging, deplores the Barreau du Québec.
After the sustained media coverage last fall on the problems undermining the judicial system, the sums allocated to it hardly made people talk about them on Tuesday when the provincial budget was tabled.
The Barreau du Québec had asked that the justice budget be completely doubled.
However, the reality did not meet this hope: the budget instead went from 1.25 billion to 1.32 billion – an increase of 72.8 million or 5.8%.
This is a modest increase that cannot meet the “crying needs” of the judicial system, lamented the president of Quebec, Ms.e Catherine Claveau, in interview with The duty. “This underfunding risks having significant direct effects on services to the population,” said the Bar, expressing its disappointment.
Last fall, when the CAQ was seeking re-election, the Bar challenged him: Me Claveau denounced a judicial system “on the edge of the precipice”, and warned the government of “alarming risks of skids”.
A few months later, the situation “hasn’t improved, that’s for sure,” she says.
Cases cannot proceed because the file did not go to the courtroom, for lack of staff, she reported, adding that there are not enough special constables in the palaces of justice, raising fears for the safety of citizens. She had already given these two examples of service failures, among many others, to illustrate the difficulties: last year, a judge apologized to an 87-year-old senior victim of a violent robbery, after being forced to postpone the trial of the accused due to the lack of clerks — which forced the lady to return to the courthouse another time. And this case: a citizen waited more than three years before being able to present himself to small claims for a history of an unpaid invoice.
Delays have become untenable in many areas, notes the president: in terms of youth protection, it is unthinkable to have to wait months before a decision is made on whether or not to remove a child from his family. , she says: “It’s catastrophic”.
In the budget, there is no specific mention of hiring staff to run the courtrooms more smoothly, nor about appointing additional judges.
However, the fate of criminal cases has received a lot of attention recently, when the chief judge of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, reduced the number of days during which her judges will sit. She demanded the appointment of 41 judges to mitigate the effect of her decision.
In Tuesday’s budget, however, $50 million is allocated to make justice more efficient — without further details. Where will this money go? This budget item could indeed include the hiring of staff and the addition of magistrates, but the minister’s office did not confirm on Wednesday what this sum would be used for, contenting itself with saying that announcements would be made shortly.
In addition, $40.5 million over 5 years has been allocated to make mediation compulsory and arbitration automatic for certain small claims cases, in order to reduce the wait for citizens. This amount will therefore be used to implement Bill 8, which was recently passed. This is an access to justice measure requested by players in the legal community.
Another investment delights the Bar as well as the Regroupement des centers pour femmes victims de violence conjugale: these are the 20.5 million over 5 years dedicated to facilitating the legal process for victims, in particular by continuing to finance the positions of prosecutors of the Crown who work on sexual and domestic violence.
Me Claveau particularly welcomes the sums granted to youth protection, given the needs that are “urgent and numerous,” she said. With substantial investments granted to make social support services accessible to parents and diversion for their children, Quebec places great importance on the protection of vulnerable young people. “It’s money upstream and that’s good,” she rejoices.