Quebec's justice minister is facing growing pressure to deal with court delays.

As many as 222 criminal cases could be dropped because of delays in the justice system.

The opposition’s calls for an emergency debate Friday morning were denied by the speaker of the house, Liberal MNA Jacques Chagnon.

Superior Court Chief Justice Jacques Fournier spoke out in the Journal de Montreal Friday, saying almost all the Superior Court cases slated for trial are at risk of being dropped due to delays.

He said there are about 70 cases in question, and told the newspaper more than half are murder cases, creating the possibility that people accused of murder could be freed without having to go to trial.

A Supreme Court ruling in July gave clear guidelines on unreasonable delays: the limit is 18 months in Quebec Court and up to 30 months in Superior Court.

Fournier said the system needs more money to have the resources to handle the backlog.

PQ justice critic Veronique Hivon said seeing a sitting judge come out to criticize the situation is unprecedented.

“You've never seen that. I put you to the test: if you have ever seen a Chief Judge coming out of his or her reserve to say such things. It means that we are facing, like we said back on Monday, an unprecedented crisis in our justice system right now,” she said. “There have been requests for months going on for adding resources in the system and that those calls for help hadn't been heard.”

Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée said that’s not true, that the government has put measures in place to deal with the delays. She also said she announced a working group last month to tackle the issue.

“Retired judges will be helping out the judges and taking some files, so there are additional resources that have been put in place. There were 30 court days that were added at the Quebec Court in Montreal last summer,” she said.

Last month she announced people with intimate knowledge of the legal system were tackling the issue.

"Retired judges will be helping us, helping out the judges and taking some files. There are additional resources that have been put in function," said Vallée.

Vallée met with Chief Justice Fournier on Friday, a meeting she said has been scheduled for weeks.

The minister is also expected to make an announcement in the next few days about more funding for the justice system.