As victims and defendants are forced to wait longer and longer for their cases to be heard before a judge, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette should stop bickering with justice system players. , believes Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“In a democratic society, access to justice is not a luxury, it is a right. Mr. Jolin-Barette must stop bickering with other players in the justice system. He is the minister. He must work with all the players in our justice system to find a solution, people have rights, ”said the spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Wednesday morning, entering his party’s pre-sessional caucus.
Minister Jolin-Barette is currently in a standoff with the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, who has decided to reduce the number of days that her judges will spend hearing criminal cases.
Thus, the judges of the Court of Québec now sit one day out of two, whereas they previously sat two days out of three.
However, a reduction in the number of hearing days would exacerbate the delays which are already tending to lengthen excessively in the justice system, a problem stemming from the postponement of a large number of cases during the pandemic as well as the lack of staff in all courses.
Moreover, since the Jordan decision in 2016, cases must be heard within a maximum of 18 months in the Court of Quebec, and 30 months at most before the Superior Court.
Exceeding these ceilings does not necessarily lead to the cessation of legal proceedings, but the Minister of Justice nevertheless underlined in The Press that he estimates that 50,000 files are at risk next year, due to excessive delays.
It is precisely to solve this problem that Judge Rondeau is asking Quebec to hire 41 additional judges. In the meantime, she claims that the 25% reduction in the number of hearing days does not increase the risk of a stay of proceedings.
For his part, Simon Jolin-Barrette is seeking to have the chief judge’s decision invalidated, and to ensure that the judges resume sitting two days out of three. The Minister lost the first round in Superior Court. The case is appealed. She will be heard in 2023.