(Quebec) Wanting to tackle judicial delays, Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette is giving more powers to presiding justices of the peace, who will be able to lend a hand to their colleagues at the Court of Quebec. Quebec is also creating seven judge positions at the Superior Court.
The Minister of Justice tabled Bill 54 on Tuesday, which aims to reduce legal delays in criminal and penal matters and make the administration of justice more efficient.
The legislative text is a response to the Table Justice-Québec which presented last week a concerted action plan to reduce legal delays. Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette had at that time telegraphed his intentions to give more powers to presiding justices of the peace to “reduce to a minimum” the interruptions of proceedings caused by judicial delays.
“In recent months, the situation with delays has unfortunately worsened to the point of becoming critical in several files,” Minister Jolin-Barrette argued on Tuesday.
“Some cases even had to be abandoned due to unreasonable delays. We reiterate, behind each of the causes, there is a victim who was unable to testify, who has the impression that they denounced in vain and whose confidence in the justice system is crumbling. This is intolerable, and we all agree,” he added.
Last year, 83 criminal cases were subject to a stay of proceedings due to delays, according to the minister. To this is added 274 “nolle prosequi”, or the abandonment of proceedings by the Crown, including 171 at the Itinerant Court and 10 in Montreal.
The bill provides that presiding justices of the peace will now be able to preside over appearances and release inquiries, tasks normally reserved for judges of the Court of Quebec.
Little known, magistrate justices preside over criminal and statutory trials, among other things, and sign search warrants. Certain offenses which do not require judicial discretion will then be redirected to civil servant justices of the peace, specified Mr. Jolin Barrette.
“What we are seeking to do is a cascade effect so that the judges who have the most power – the judges of the Court of Quebec – although they can use their skills and their field of expertise on the most complex files,” explained the minister.
Bill 54 also provides for a reduction in the evidence regime and a modernization of procedures to “save court time and avoid witnesses having to travel to court”.
The increase in legal delays can be explained, among other things, by the pandemic and by the “unilateral” decision of the Court of Quebec to have judges sit less often. Over the past year, Minister Jolin-Barrette and the Court of Quebec have resolved their conflict by creating 14 new judge positions in exchange for an increase in the number of hearing days per judge and the establishment of new efficiency targets. .
With these changes, Quebec hopes that 87.7% of cases will end within 18 to 30 months. “We set ourselves the objective in return for the appointment of 14 new judges from Quebec by January 31, 2025, the Court has the obligation to achieve this type of performance,” illustrated the minister. Currently, this rate is 78%.
New positions
Furthermore, the Minister of Justice is adding seven new judge positions to the Superior Court, which would increase their total to 164. The legislative text also aims to “adjust the distribution of judges of this court in the different judicial districts”. The Quebec government must create these positions in law, but it is the federal government that appoints judges to the Superior Court.
However, Ottawa has not yet filled two Superior Court judge positions created under the former Liberal Minister of Justice, Stéphanie Vallée, in 2016. A situation that Minister Jolin-Barrette deplored on Tuesday.
With Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press