Print

E-mail

Text

Courtroom backlogs? One is reminded of the famous saying: justice delayed is justice denied.

Indeed, when it comes to our provincial courts, those delays - and hence the denials - have been grimly marching higher for more than a decade and the numbers are there to prove it.

Late last week, it was announced as part of a provincial Justice on Target strategy that the office of the attorney general is taking aim at those delays. In order to test out strategies to help determine the most effective methods, three 'action sites,' including one in North York, have been chosen. London and Newmarket are the other two locations. Once successful initiatives are identified, they'll, presumably, be rolled out en masse where appropriate.

There will be no argument here that court delays are a problem worth looking at and addressing. It's all part and parcel of administering an effective crime-fighting strategy. Locally at the Finch Avenue West courthouse, it has had to deal with an ever-increasing volume of charges (now numbering more than 20,000 annually) as part of its workload.

However, it is other statistics, that are, quite frankly, depressing.

Consider this: in 1992, criminal cases were in the system for a provincial average of 115 days; 15 years later, that number has increased to 205 - a sizable jump of 78 per cent. Fifteen years ago, the average number of court appearances required to complete a criminal case was 4.3. That number has more than doubled to 9.2.

Here at home, it's worse. In 2007, the average number of court appearances at the North York site was 10.9. The average length of time for cases was 235 (down from a high of 241 in 2006) last year.

These numbers, over a significant period of time, show a bogged-down process, where the business of dispensing justice fairly, yet swiftly, is falling behind.

At the same time, however, the number of charges courts are dealing with (a particular challenge locally) is also on an upward - though by no means identical - trajectory; surely that increased workload has to be factored in as well and that the increased court times are not simply a product of bureaucratic hang-ups.

The challenge, however, is twofold: not only is the goal to speed things up, but to actually reverse an existing trend.

But something does need to be done. In order for the system to work as efficiently and productively as possible, a more concerted effort must be made at all stages, before during and after the courts process, to bring the necessary changes.

That said, last week's announcement is a good first step.