(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 a bill on Tuesday aimed at reducing legal delays in criminal and penal matters and making the administration of justice more efficient.
The legislative text is a response to the Table Justice-Québec which presented last week an action plan to reduce legal delays.
At that time, Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette had also 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.
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 hearings.
These judges of the Court of Quebec preside over criminal and statutory trials, among other things, and sign search warrants.
New positions
Furthermore, the Minister of Justice is adding seven new judge positions to the Superior Court. The bill 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.
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. However, for 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 targets. ‘efficiency.
With Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press