Justice system delays need immediate attention

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/01/2025 (234 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The growing number of criminal cases at risk of being thrown out of court in Manitoba for failing to meet nationally mandated timelines should be a wake-up call for the provincial government.

Unfortunately, the NDP government — which professes to be “tough on crime” — seems to have little interest.

A spike in violent crime across the province in recent years has put increasing pressure on Manitoba’s prosecution branch. With more cases to handle and less time to manage more complex files — including unprecedented volumes of disclosure demands by defence attorneys — prosecutors say they’re having difficulty keeping up.

The result?

Some cases are being dismissed by the courts for failing to meet strict timelines guaranteed under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which stipulates that all people charged with a criminal offence have the right to be tried within a reasonable period of time.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in a landmark 2016 ruling, pegged that timeline at a maximum of 18 months for provincial courts and 30 months for higher courts. Failure to meet those thresholds can lead to a stay of proceedings, meaning a case is essentially dropped.

According to provincial data, the number of motions seeking stays of proceedings because of delays was 37 by November of last year, up from 27 in 2023.

The Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys filed a grievance against the province in April 2023 over the growing workload and the impact it’s having on criminal cases. However, the matter will only be heard by an arbitrator in October and a ruling is not expected until months later. Meanwhile, Crown attorneys say the problem is getting worse. They want action from the province now.

“If this government is serious about protecting Manitobans and their communities, it must commit to providing the support and resources needed to prosecute crime,” said the professional association’s president Christian Vanderhooft, a longtime Manitoba prosecutor.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, who refused to be interviewed by the Free Press on the matter, blamed the previous Progressive Conservative government for the lack of resources in the prosecutions branch (a frequent excuse used by the NDP that is growing increasingly thin).

The minister said in a written statement that the province has hired more Crown attorneys and court clerks since taking office. That may be, but it’s clearly not enough.

With more evidence to wade through in criminal cases than ever before, including video surveillance and electronic communications such as text messages, cases are taking longer to prepare for court, prosecutors say. The impending roll-out of body cameras for RCMP officers and the need to review those images for certain cases is expected to add to the workload.

“Something has to give — we need either more Crown attorneys or more time to do it,” said one prosecutor, who spoke to the Free Press on condition of anonymity. “More evidence isn’t a bad thing, but I can’t handle all the same cases I used to handle with the amount of information coming in.”

This is an urgent matter that requires immediate attention from the NDP government. It’s not good enough to blame the previous Tory government for the heavy workloads.

Criminal cases should be investigated and prosecuted in a timely fashion, not only to meet the Supreme Court’s stated timelines but also to ensure victims of crime get the justice they deserve.

Justice delayed is justice denied. And when cases get thrown out of court because of lengthy delays, public safety suffers.