Skip to content

Court not in session

Decrease in number of trial days has lasting impact on criminal and family proceedings
court bottleneck
LACK OF JUDGEMENT: The number of trial days with judges has decreased in areas such as Powell River, causing a backlog in criminal and family law cases. Chris Bolster photo

A cut to the number of days judges sit in Powell River Provincial Court has been made permanent; a move that is raising questions about access to timely justice and overall fairness in the province.

Until recent years, Powell River had sitting judges in session at the court house on Alberni Street for two days each week, but that changed after a stakeholders meeting in July 2015. Vancouver Island Regional Office Court Services Branch made a decision in 2016 to run a trial 40 per cent reduction for Powell River and have court sit every second week.

Last month, the changes were made permanent, again without consultation.

Powell River Bar Association chair Stacey McCausland said the 2016 change was made without any input from local defence lawyers or the community, and the effects are being felt.

“It was a sore point for us that nobody had any input in to it,” said McCausland. “They just rammed it through, saying they would review it in a year. Then they never reviewed it.”

The cuts have been particularly hard on arrested people waiting to stand before a judge for a bail hearing, and also for those who have had their children removed by BC Ministry of Children and Family Development social workers, said Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons.

“We’ve seen an erosion to access to justice for family, civil and criminal matters,” he said.

McCausland explained the changes have led to some arrested people sitting in jail at the Powell River RCMP detachment for up to two weeks, resulting in costs that are incurred by City of Powell River taxpayers.

She said she knows it may be hard for the general public to feel sympathy for someone who has been arrested, but it is important to remember the person’s civil rights.

“There are a lot of times when people get arrested and held and it is not legitimate,” she said. “It’s an issue.”

Powell River RCMP staff sergeant Rod Wiebe told City of Powell River council at its February 14 committee of the whole meeting the problem with reducing court time is police officers often spend hours of overtime waiting at court to be summoned to provide testimony. When a trial is adjourned, those hours are wasted, he said.
City of Powell River councillor Maggie Hathaway said reducing the number of judges in Powell River is not an effective way to save money.

“That might be a savings somewhere,” said Hathaway, “but not here.” She added that the city pays for all holding costs associated with jail.

With some people staying in jail longer, that has also meant more city money going toward guarding and maintaining prisoners.

One spinoff of the reduction has been an increase in the use of the Justice Centre, a telephone and video-conference service used by police at any time of the day to apply for search warrants. The service is also used for the accused during bail hearings if a local judge is unavailable.

However, McCausland said using the service is not the same as having a hearing before a sitting judge.

“They don’t like to do hearings without lawyers,” said McCausland, “and it’s hard to get lawyers after hours, so what has happened quite a bit is people who might not have ever had to do jail time are spending two weeks in there. That’s a big problem.”

It is not only those accused of a crime who suffer. Before the change, social workers could inform parents who have had their children removed of the date and time of their presentation hearings, which is supposed to happen no later than seven days after the removal. With court not sitting each week, some of those hearings have had to be conducted through a video conference with a judge.

McCausland said the change has caused scheduling uncertainty, with most parents only finding out one day before their hearing is scheduled. Many parents have not been able to attend, she said.

“Nobody knows dates,” she said. “It’s everyone scrambling at the ninth hour to get a video judge and then trying to get everyone there.”

The main issue is not with the number of days that court is in session, but the frequency of it sitting every two weeks, especially for families who have had children put into government care and those being detained, said McCausland. She added that extra sittings can be scheduled when there is an extreme need.

“I can’t say that the system is broken,” she said. “It just really does not work for those two areas, and those are really important areas.”

Simons said the change has further eroded basic fairness for anyone who has to use the justice system.

“Parents don’t have the same access to justice as parents in other communities do,” he said. “That’s simply unfair.”

Last month, Simons sent a letter to BC justice minister Suzanne Anton about the matter. According to the letter, court delays and adjournments have increased significantly, which has had real social and economic impacts for the community.

Simons said he has an upcoming meeting to further discuss the matter with Anton.

A spokesperson from BC Ministry of Justice said the provincial government has taken a number of steps to improve access, timeliness and efficiency in a justice system that serves British Columbians, but the decision is up to the judiciary’s responsible for scheduling and assigning resources.

Simons said it was the province that put on the pressure to reduce the costs of running the courts in BC.

“It wasn’t the judiciary who cancelled two days of court in Powell River, it was the provincial government,” said Simons, “and the impact is not only being felt by those accused of criminal offences, but also families who are attempting to resolve conflicts that are emotionally complex and stressful.”

Wiebe explained to council that the change is having a significant impact on his detachment’s fiscal budget.

“I can tell you our court liaison officer has a board in her office that I’ve never seen so full in the five years I’ve been here,” said Wiebe. “There are a ton of trials scheduled.”