The chief judge of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, maintains the pressure on the CAQ government. Earlier this year, the magistrate decreed that from September, the judges of the Criminal Division would hear fewer cases, sitting only one day out of two rather than two days out of three. While the Court has 319 judges, it claims that we add 41 more judges, which represents a quarter of the judges assigned to the Criminal Chamber.
The catch is that it’s a time-consuming process. It is therefore impossible for this reinforcement to arrive in time for September. And the Chief Justice knows it very well.
It is up to the government and the National Assembly to decide on an increase in the number of judges on the Court of Québec. The Treasury Board must first consider the Court’s request and carry out its own needs analysis. The Treasury Board then submits its recommendation to the Minister of Justice, who informs the Cabinet of Ministers. The budgetary decision must be the subject of a bill or an addition to a bill. After its adoption by parliamentarians, the selection process begins, which lasts several months.
Like The duty reported, the Department of Justice calculated that 50,000 criminal cases per year could exceed the 18-month time limit set by the Jordan decision, which may lead to a stay of proceedings.
As if that were not enough, the courts of justice in Quebec are affected by a shortage of judicial personnel — clerks, judicial assistants, bailiffs, paralegals, etc. Their salaries — from $35,000 to just over $45,000 at the top rung — are modest. Last year, the chief justices of the Court of Quebec, the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal banded together to demand that the government raise the salaries of these underpaid staff, who only progress 2% per year.
In comparison, the judges of the Court of Quebec obtain, year after year, much more than inflation thanks to a comparative system that benefits them. Thus, their salary will rise to $310,000 in July, after a “catch-up” of 22% for four years, or $24,000 more than inflation. The 319 judges share an additional 20 million per year, which would be enough to pay a 25% increase to each of the approximately 2,000 employees who form the legal staff of all the courthouses in Quebec. So much for dreaming.