Quebec's justice minister announced Monday the hiring of 18 new provincial judges who will help relieve pressure on the judicial system.
Canadian provinces are trying to reduce court delays following a ruling last year by the Supreme Court which sets a limit to how long the accused should wait before they get their day in court.
According to the ruling, a trial for an accused person must begin within 18 months after charges are laid; 30 months for a jury trial.
The ruling sent a wake-up call across Canada as tribunals were forced to release accused criminals who exceeded these limits.
Quebec Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee has announced that the province reached its goal of filling most of the judicial vacancies needed to deal with the backlog.
“They've been hired and they will be from now on the different criminal files and different files in the courthouse,” she said.
Aside from naming judges, Vallee and Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux hired:
- 52 additional prosecutors
- 60 support staff for prosecutors
- 132 new court employees
It's too early to say if this will stop the floodgate of accused criminals being released for undue delays, said Coiteux.
“The first step was really to add critical resources, so we just added both judges and people at the ministry of public safety,” he said.
PQ Leader Jean-Francois Lisee said he isn't impressed with Vallee's measures.
“Her government has been very, very slow in acting for a completely predictable crisis,” he said.
The judge nominations may meet Quebec's needs but they don't solve all the court delays because many trials are held in front of a Superior Court judge, and it is up to Ottawa to fill those vacancies.
Vallee said she's in talks with Ottawa to fill at least eight Superior Court vacancies.
“There's still a little piece of the puzzle that's left that's in the hand of my colleague from the federal government and I hope they'll provide us with the necessary resources,” she said.
