(Québec) While the explosion of delays is forcing prosecutors to prioritize prosecutions to the detriment of others, the Barreau du Québec and the opposition are urging the Legault government to quickly reinvest in justice in order to maintain public confidence in the system judicial.
The Press revealed on Friday new instructions sent by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) to prosecutors advising them to prioritize certain cases – particularly in matters of murder, sexual and domestic violence, child and elder abuse – to respect the time limits prescribed by the Jordan decision, while the judges of the Court of Québec sit fewer days than before.
According to the President of Quebec, Ms.e Catherine Claveau, this decision is a direct consequence “of the fact that there is a lack of judges and hearing days”. According to her, prosecutors are “forced to prioritize cases”, a decision which “is not desirable in a society like ours where the rule of law is very important and where the confidence of citizens in the justice system must be as high as possible”.
“All of this is again a consequence of the underfunding of the justice system. […] There is a lack of judges and clerks who will enable us to hear cases. You have to put money into the justice system if you want [qu’il soit] in good health”, pleads Me Claveau.
The government pointed the finger
Liberal MP André A. Morin, former chief federal prosecutor at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, believes that the justice system is in crisis and that the problem is much larger than the recent directive sent by the DPCP. .
“It is a consequence of the inability of the government and the minister to prioritize justice, which is one of the pillars of the state. At some point, the important players in the system, like the DPCP, are forced to make decisions that are very difficult and worrying. This is the result of the government’s negligence,” he says.
Mr. Morin in turn notes that there is a lack of judges, but also of professionals essential to the proper functioning of the court, such as clerks and constables.
“If you have a courtroom and there’s no court clerk, you won’t be able to function. It’s the same thing for the special constables, who provide security. […] Justice is a pillar of our society, so you have to take the necessary steps to be able to make the system work properly,” he says.
“Devastated” prosecutors
MNA Christine Labrie of Québec solidaire (QS) affirms for her part that prosecutors say they are “devastated” by the state of the judicial system.
“There is a risk of breach of trust in [la] justice. I met a prosecutor last fall who was devastated to prioritize [des poursuites]. He told me that within a year to a year and a half, cases will fall because they will not have had a trial date in time. It worried him a lot. He was devastated,” she said.
“There are no magic solutions to the problem. It takes more judges and more court staff. We will not be able to hold more trials if there are not more personnel, [comme des] clerks and constables. That goes through negotiation [des conventions collectives] of the public sector”, adds Mr.me Labrie.
“This situation is completely deplorable. It is unacceptable to have to prioritize one file over another. Every crime deserves to be dealt with in due form and in a timely manner. Minister Jolin-Barette must act quickly to resolve this situation and stop behaving like an angry spectator,” said Parti Québécois (PQ) spokesperson Méganne Perry Mélançon. The PQ MPs were unavailable for an interview on Friday.
An enduring conflict
Faced with the opposition demanding priority status for justice in the negotiations surrounding the renewal of collective agreements in the public sector, the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, replied that it was “aware of the retention problems and attracting staff to courthouses” and that “all necessary efforts [sont déployés] to find lasting solutions to these challenges.
For clerks, the last collective agreement signed with their union included a 10% bonus. Regarding the special constables of the courthouses, “we have reached agreements with nearly 90% of the peace officers in the province [et] we are confident that the parties will be able to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement in the near future, ”says the firm.
Since September, the chief judge of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, has implemented a reform to increase the deliberation time of judges. The 160 judges of the Court of Québec now sit every other day, rather than two days out of three. This decision led to an open conflict between the Court and the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette.
The chief justice asks to add 41 judges to compensate for the loss of 4617 hearing days annually, which the government refuses. Mr. Jolin-Barrette and Mr.me Rondeau have since appointed former judge and former deputy minister Jacques Chamberland as a facilitator to assist them in the search for common solutions. The Office of the Minister of Justice also affirmed Thursday to The Press that the new instructions from the DPCP intended for prosecutors are a direct consequence of the decision of the Court of Québec to change the ratio of sitting days/days of deliberation for judges in the Criminal and Penal Division. This situation “is not tolerable”, he said.
With Lila Dussault