The purpose of the Justice on Target (JOT) initiative was to clear court dockets and reduce wait times for trials. No doubt the goals were lofty ones but they should be achievable. According to this story from CBC, the province is not meeting its target.
Many of the JOT initiatives I have seen in GTA courthouses have been good ones, although it would be nice if there was some uniformity while still keeping in mind that different things may work in different courthouses. In my mind, however, JOT does not address the key issue in that there are a lot of charges in Ontario courtrooms that just don’t need to be there.
In British Columbia there is a system in place whereby the Crown will approve of charges before they are laid. In Ontario the police will lay a charge (in fairness they may consult with the Crown on more serious matters) and the file often will not get to a Crown Attorney’s desk until around the time of the first court appearance. Instead, why not have the police consult with a Crown and avoid the need for certain charges in the first place?
The other reality is that many charges go to trial that could be resolved by way of some form of alternative measures. The problem is that the Crown only offers alternative measures in the most minor of cases. If such an offer is not on the table then in many cases there isn’t much to lose by taking a case to trial. By doing this the accused person may be able to avoid a finding of guilt and criminal record. Instead, some sort of alternative measures program can be arranged that is able to provide a meaningful sanction to the charged person without having to go through an actual trial and the time and expense that goes with it.
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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