The establishment of courts specializing in sexual and domestic violence is taking a new step. The pilot project is starting in a sixth district, that of Laval this time.
The judicial district of Laval handles around a thousand cases of sexual crimes or domestic violence each year.
The region has already begun for some years to modernize its judicial methods. Within the courthouse, a screen is offered to victims in the courtroom to isolate them from their attacker during their testimony. The procedure is requested by the vast majority of complainants, and accepted by the judge in almost all cases.
Videoconference testimony is also offered, to prevent the two people in dispute from being in the same room. All these practices are therefore called upon to be implemented throughout Quebec.
“The idea is to start from what there is already in Laval and to build further. […] Laval will be able to be a model,” boasted the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, at the time of the announcement on Wednesday, at the Laval courthouse.
This pilot project, which aims to establish best practices, has already been implemented in five districts: Québec, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Granby, Drummondville and La Tuque. The next five districts selected are those of Laval, that of the Sherbrooke region, Mégantic, that of Mingan on the North Shore and that of Montmagny.
This “modernization of the justice system”, according to the Minister, follows the adoption of Law 92 last November by the entire National Assembly.
“Quebecers, when they enter the health network, their opinion increases during the process. When they go through the justice system, on the contrary, their opinion is sometimes less positive. We want to change that, ”said Simon Jolin-Barrette.
Small details with big consequences
The Laval courthouse itself will be refurbished. The premises of the Center d’Aide aux Victimes d’Actes Criminels (CAVAC), for example, will be moved in such a way as to prevent victims leaving from meeting their assailant in the corridors. A special bathroom will be set up for this type of victim. In the end, everything will be done to avoid disturbing encounters.
The idea is that the victim “feels at home in the courthouse,” said Minister Jolin-Barrette.
The CAVAC offices will also be expanded. Four new people will be hired. “We are starting from afar”, testifies the psychosocial worker Carolyne Bureau. When he arrived, some fifteen years ago, this aid to victims was held in a small, cramped room set back from the palace.
“We want to make it as human as possible in a big judicial machine,” she sums up.
In addition, training for lawyers and raising awareness among judges will help victims in their denunciation process. Some 500 lawyers from the bar have already started or completed this training.