The Quebec government wants to hire nearly two dozen new judges to help ease the burden on its overloaded justice system.
Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée tabled a bill Wednesday that would add two appeals court justices, five Superior Court justices and 16 provincial court judges to the current numbers.
READ MORE: Quebec court delays amount to a crisis: PQ
The bill comes as the province deals with a crisis due to a Supreme Court judgment in July known as the Jordan decision, which stated that a reasonable delay for a case to reach trial from the time an accused is charged is 18 months in a provincial court or 30 months in a Superior Court.
WATCH BELOW: Quebec’s justice system is facing a crisis because of lengthy delays. As Amanda Jelowicki reports, that could affect the case against the man accused of being responsible for the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster.
Quebec’s legislative session ends Friday, but both the opposition Parti Québécois (PQ) and the Coaltion Avenir Quebec (CAQ) seemed open to helping the government out.
READ MORE: Quebec court delays could mean accused don’t face trial
PQ leader Jean-François Lisée said his party will support the bill if the legal community says it is satisfied with the measures.
Last week, Vallée told reporters she was ready to pump resources into the Quebec justice system – an investment of between $40 and $50 million per year over four years, according to reports not confirmed by her office.
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