A matter of justice, without delay

A matter of justice, without delay by Jeffrey Simpson, September 28, 2012, The Globe and Mail
To wit, these observations from Mr. Cowper: “The system fails to meet the public’s reasonable expectations of timeliness.” … “Over a decade ago, Chief Judge [Robert] Metzger expressed concern over what he termed a ‘culture of delay.’ In my respectful view, the facts show that such a culture remains today.” Just as physicians guard their professional autonomy, so judges defend “judicial independence.” They don’t like outsiders prodding them or poking about in their affairs, let alone criticizing the slow administration of justice. But Mr. Cowper found that, although the caseload at Provincial Court has been decreasing, “cases are still taking too long to go to trial.” … Everyone in the field is aware of the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1990 Askov decision warning that “all members of the community are entitled to see that the justice system works fairly, efficiently and with reasonable dispatch. The failure of the justice system to do so inevitably leads to frustration with the judicial system and eventually to a feeling of contempt for court procedures.” And, it turned out, for prosecutions to be abandoned because of intolerable delays. [Emphasis added]

This entry was posted in Case Related. Bookmark the permalink.