'An enormous problem': Court delays plague criminal cases across the country

Legal delays are making it increasingly difficult for people to have their day in court.

One Saskatoon family says they missed out on justice after delays forced the judge to stay proceedings in an impaired driving case that killed their daughter.

“This is going to be looked back upon as a terrible event in our justice system,” said family friend Sarah Smokeday.

Baeleigh Maurice, 9, was hit and killed by a truck while at a Saskatoon crosswalk in September 2021.

The accused was charged with impaired driving causing death. But a judge stayed that charge late last week after months of delays in the legal proceedings.

“Delay in the justice system, particularly in civil and criminal justice, is an enormous problem,” said Gerard Kennedy, an associate professor of law at the University of Alberta.

“In civil, it's even worse than criminal. It often takes years to get a trial date, which incentivizes a lot of people not to use the civil justice system.”

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the accused has the right to be tried within reasonable time. Criminal matters in provincial court must reach a conclusion in 18 months. For higher courts, the time cap is 30 months. The charter does not specify timelines for civil cases.

If the Crown can’t prove there were exceptional circumstances behind the delays, the judge has no other option but to stay the proceedings.

“That aspect of this regime, I actually think is reasonable, because it incentivizes all actors in the justice system to go along,” Kennedy said.

Courts faced a backlog before COVID-19, according to Donna Kellway, president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association. The pandemic exacerbated the issue.

While the justice system attempts to deal with the backlog within the timeline of the charter, Kellway said new cases are being added to the workload every day.

“More trials are set on a list than can possibly be reached,” Kellway said.

“You have a lot of prosecutors who are dealing with highly emotional situations, highly traumatic material as well. And it's just an additional stressor to know that you can't possibly reach all of these matters on the day that they're scheduled for.”

Delays plague the legal system for several reasons, according to Palma Paciocco, an Osgoode Hall Law School professor at York University.

“This is really largely a supply and demand issue,” Paciocco said.

Judicial and court staff vacancies, limited courtroom space and increasingly complicated legal processes all contribute to delays in the justice system.

Paciocco says there is no quick fix, but there is some low hanging fruit, such as addressing staffing shortages.

“It's not necessarily easy to fill those positions. We want to make sure we have qualified individuals coming in, but it's quite obvious that that could make some difference,” she said.

Judicial vacancies have steadily fallen across the country in the last 18 months, according to a spokesperson for Justice Minister Arif Virani.

More than 96 per cent of judicial positions are filled, which leaves 35 vacancies nationwide.

“Many of the remaining vacancies stem from our government’s push to expand court capacity, creating 116 new judicial positions since 2017 to increase access to justice,” spokesperson Chantalle Aubertin told CTV News.

But vacancies are only one piece of the puzzle.

A more “ambitious” solution to the delays, according to Paciocco, would be to look at the social issues, like mental health and addictions cases, that could be better addressed outside the criminal justice system.

Simplifying procedures and using technology to improve efficiencies could be other solutions, Paciocco said.