Monday, 10am: I arrive at my assigned courtroom at 361 University Ave. Superior Court of Justice. I’m ready to go. The Crown is ready to go. The Judge comes in and informs us that there is no court available to hear the trial (scheduled for a 10-day jury trial) and to return after the morning recess.
Monday, 11:45am: No courtroom is available but there is a possibility in the afternoon. The Judge tells us to come back after the lunch break.
Monday, 2:15pm: We are told to leave for the day and try again Tuesday.
Tuesday: Rinse and repeat Monday’s schedule. The Judge is very clear that Wednesday will be the final day of waiting. We will either get a court or the trial will be rescheduled.
Wednesday: After discussions with the trial coordinator the Crown informs me that we will not be getting a court. We agree to reschedule the trial for April. Upon remanding my client I make some very thorough submissions with respect to his 11(b) right (the right to a trial within a reasonable period of time).
Unfortunately this is par for the course at 361 University, and is equally frustrating to all parties including the judiciary, Crown, my client, and witnesses. The system is just too bogged down and matters get delayed. My client’s trial is also low priority since he is out of custody, this is our first time up for trial (matters that have already been through this process get some priority), and, in comparison to some of the matters which are heard in this court, my client’s matter is not very serious (possession for the purpose of trafficking of a small amount of a schedule I substance).
I have the next week and a half blocked off as I was supposed to be in trial. I must now block off two weeks in April. There is no guarantee this won’t happen again in April. This type of thing is not good for my practice.
My client must now book additional time off work.
This trial only had police witnesses, but had there been civilian witnesses, they would have to book additional time off as well.
From the taxpayer’s perspective, both the Crown Attorney and police witnesses were being paid, through no fault of their own, to sit around in court.
Justice may be blind, but it’s also very slow.
This blog post was written by Toronto Criminal Lawyer Adam Goodman. Adam can be reached at 416-477-6793 or by email at adam@aglaw.ca.
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