Community court first of its kind in Canada

The Downtown Community Court in Vancouver is set to open Sept. 10.

On Vancouver, B.C.'s, gritty downtown eastside, the doors have opened to a community court -- the very first of its kind in Canada.

"This will be Canada's first one-stop sentencing and services facility," said B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell."

Over 50 per cent of those arrested in the troubled neighbourhood have mental health problems, addictions or both -- which often leads to crime. Community court is designed to break that.

"What we've done in the past hasn't worked so we need to look at those chronic offenders who keep coming into the court rooms and do something about it," said B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal.

The community court model is based on a concept called 'restorative justice' - similar to the communal problem-solving aboriginal people have used for eons.

"The individuals in the downtown eastside are hurt and they need healing," Chief Leah George-Wilson from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation told CTV.

"The way for things to be made right for them is to have those services available."

The idea of community court is to take a problem-solving approach to crime. By dealing with the underlying health and social problems that contribute to crime, the hope is chronic offenders can be rehabilitated effectively.

The way community court hopes to achieve this goal is to focus on integrated case management. Social housing and addictions counselors will be in the court beside lawyers and sheriffs, with the public welcome to participate in what is hoped will be the speedy rehabilitation of repeat offenders.

Another thing that sets community court apart is consistency. Only two judges will oversee the cases compared to the dozens in regular provincial court. The hope is the two judges will get to know who the repeat offenders are, and sentence accordingly.

But not everyone is convinced the project will be a success.

Laura Track, a lawyer and housing campaigner for Vancouver's Pivot Society, says there's legal log jam ahead unless the government invests millions more in housing and treatment programs.

"The court, in a sense, is being set up to fail," Track says.

"Housing is full... People are already waiting days to access detox and no new services have been created specifically for this court."

Judge Thomas Gove, who will preside over the new community court, admits it's not a foolproof system - yet.

"I'd be foolish to say we have all the resources in the community today because we don't," said Gove.

"But the goodness is that not only has the government made the commitment, and is moving ahead by supplying the housing and supportive housing we need."

If the social services do come and it's successful, the community court could become a model for justice in cities right across Canada.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger.