Quebec wants to hire two dozen new judges and more than 50 prosecutors to deal with excessive delays in the criminal justice system.
Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée tabled legislation Wednesday that should help reduce the time between being arraigned and going on trial.
It's become an urgent matter because of a Supreme Court ruling this year that imposed maximum times for court cases. That ruling has resulted in several court cases being thrown out, and about 200 cases in Quebec are at risk of being tossed out.
Bill 125 calls for hiring two Appeal Court judges, to bring their number to 22. The government would also hire five Superior Court judges and 16 for the Court of Quebec, in order to have 157 and 306 judges respectively.
On top of this, the province wants to hire an additional 69 Crown prosecutors, 114 assistants, and and dozens more special constables, probation agents, and justice department support staff.
The extra spending will amount to $175 million over four years.
Opposition leaders Jean-Francois Lisée and Francois Legault said they were willing to help rush the bill through the National Assembly before the end of the fall session on Friday.
Under Vallée's supervision, a group of judges and lawyers have been working out ways to speed up Quebec's legal system and avoid having cases thrown out for unreasonable delays.
They have already implemented sharing documents via email or secure electronic transfers, and using retired judges to help settle cases before trial.
Judges are also being urged to grant fewer postponements.
The Crown's office said Wednesday it welcomes the government's plan.
Other provinces have also been taking measures to deal with similar crises.
One week ago, Ontario announced plans to hire judges, Crown attorneys, duty counsel and court staff to help improve wait times to get to trial.
The Ontario Crown Attorneys Association recently estimated about 6,000 criminal cases could be stayed or withdrawn in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
