Prince George, B.C.- B.C.’s Provincial Court system is bogged down with a backlog of cases and a shortage of Judges.

The reality of the backlog came to light this past week when charges against a Vancouver Island man accused of impaired driving were stayed because it took too long for the case to come to trial.   A stay of proceedings means the charges cannot come before the court and the accused’s record is wiped clean.

Attorney General Mike deJong says new judicial appointments are on the horizon “There is no question the courts are feeling pressure” says deJong, “The challenges the court services face relates though to the fact that as important as a judge is to the court, the court is more than a judge, it is the clerks, it is the sheriffs, its all of the support personnel that are an integral part of allowing a court to operate, so when we make the appointments(judicial) and there are more to be made in the coming days and weeks, we have to be mindful of the fact that we also need to provide those support services.”

According to the 2008/09 annual report for the Provincial Court (the most recent report available) the time  it takes to get to trial in Prince George for a variety of matters is well beyond the standards.  The Performance standards  call for 90% of cases to reach  trial within the following  time frames:

Such is not the case in the following regions:

 

The annual report indicates the backlogs reported “seem to be combination of a delay of judicial appointments and a reconfiguration of court sittings due to the 2010 Winter Olympics.”

Attorney General Mike deJong won’t go so far as to say the B.C. Court system is in crisis “Our court system is facing challenges associated with the volume of work that needs to be done. It is also facing challenges attributable to the fact that as our laws evolve, trials become more complex, they are taking longer. The numbers of trials that are taking place in some cases are diminishing, the length of time they are taking is expanding, so that’s   placing pressure on our court, there’s no question about that.”

The Attorney General says while there are some areas of the province where the backlog has grown, there are also areas where the backlog has been reduced. The challenge he says is to find a way to deal with that ebb and flow  “to ensure the resources are where we need them when we need them.”

deJong says new judicial appointments are expected to help “I don’t expect that to ease the pressure over night, but coupled with some other changes, things should improve”. He says an example of other measures in the wings, would be the new legislation that gives police more powers in dealing with suspected drunk drivers  “They can impose administrative penalties such as driving suspensions and vehicle impoundments.” He says the impetus for the new legislation was not necessarily to alleviate some of the pressures the courts are facing, “but  fewer 2 day impaired trials   will free up court time and court resources to attend to other matters.”

There are however some who will argue that as the laws are revised or changed, the door opens for further court challenges to the new aspects of those laws. “The sanctions are serious enough that I  expect challenges initially” says deJong “We will want to deal with those as quickly as possible to ensure that we have established a law that meets all of the appropriate constitutional tests, but the reviews that take place, initially, are not court reviews, they are administrative reviews conducted by the motor vehicles branch with the possibility for   judicial review. So it’s a different approach and we’re hopeful it will alleviate some of the pressure whilst at the same time imposing quicker and   stiffer sanctions on people who insist on drinking and driving.”

But for now, the wait time to trial remains long, “We are acutely aware of the need, and doing what we can to meet that need” says deJong . He is also mindful of the old adage, ‘ Justice delayed is justice denied’ “I believe there is an over riding importance attached to ensuring that matters, criminal matters in particular, are heard in a timely way and verdicts delivered in a timely way.”