The Crown prosecutor’s office in Edmonton has stayed more than a dozen criminal cases, citing a “lack of prosecution services.”
The cases involve charges ranging from fraud, possession of stolen property and assault with a weapon to assault of a peace officer and impaired driving.
“I ask that any trial dates… be cancelled,” the prosecutor said in provincial court Tuesday morning.
The request was granted by the judge.
READ MORE: ‘Swamped’ Alberta police watchdog spurs calls for better justice system funding
The landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling R. vs Jordan set out a new framework for determining whether a criminal trial has been unreasonably delayed.
According to the framework, an unreasonable delay would be presumed should proceedings — from the date of charge to conclusion of a trial — exceed 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in superior court.
“We too are very concerned in terms of what’s going on here,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said.
“We certainly are doing our level best to ensure that serious and violent matters are prioritized, that we’re screening out those things that don’t need to find themselves in the justice system to places like alternative measures or mental health diversion.
“We are working to ensure the system is properly resourced and operates properly going forward,” she said.
Ganley said more prosecutors and court clerks are being sought.
“We are looking quite closely as well at resourcing both in the courts and the Crown prosecution.”
The Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association said Wednesday the province needs to lift a hiring freeze on Crown prosecutors and add additional new positions.
“In order to save money, this government has imposed a hiring freeze on the ACPS,” ACAA said in a news release. “As a result, 35 approved full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) are currently vacant, at a time when at least 50 new FTEs are urgently needed.”
The ACAA said approximately 200 similar criminal cases have been stayed in the last two months.
The association said the Jordan decision set stricter and clearer timelines for criminal cases.
“The combined effect of short-staffed offices and new timelines are forcing Crown prosecutors to abandon significant prosecutions to protect the most serious and violent crimes from dismissal due to delay.”
Since the Jordan decision, other provinces have announced new funding for additional prosecutors to help address the backlog, ACAA said.
“Our members know that victims of crime and communities are significantly impacted when criminal charges are stayed,” ACAA President James Pickard said. “Our association advised the deputy minister of justice and the minister of justice in November 2016 that there were too few prosecutors to handle the increasing number of criminal charges.
“To date, no substantive action has been taken in response to our concerns. We believe action must be taken quickly to protect Alberta’s justice system.”
The association said Alberta’s growing population and that the number of approved Crown prosecutor positions has not changed significantly from the 2006 levels are only making the situation more dire.
Scroll down to read the ACAA’s full statement.
Watch: The Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association says more than 200 cases have been stayed in the last two months. ACAA President James Pickard says the justice system needs more resources.
The Wildrose said the move should be a wake-up call for the NDP. The opposition party said the stayed charges show a lack of resources from all levels of government for Crown prosecutors to get cases to trial.
“We are setting ourselves up for failure in a justice system where charges are being stayed for crimes that have a real impact on our communities,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “It is infuriating to see the NDP government throw billions at phasing out coal and other pet projects but not find the resources to properly fund our justice system to keep criminals off our streets. Albertans deserve better.”
“When the accused in serious criminal trials are not seeing their day in court because of delays, our system is broken,” Wildrose Shadow Justice Minister Angela Pitt said. “The NDP government needs to be holding the Trudeau Liberals’ feet to the fire to fill justice vacancies properly staff other positions, and streamline processes within our justice system. This is a problem that is only going to grow larger if it isn’t addressed immediately.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Edmonton Police Service issued a statement in response to cases being stayed and called the development “disappointing.”
“We feel for the victims in these cases and we worry about the reputation of the criminal justice system with the public,” the statement said.
“However, the decision comes as no surprise to the Edmonton Police Service. Subsequent to the Jordan decision, Alberta Justice indicated that criminal prosecutions proceeding to trial would be ‘triaged’ in order to address their backlog. Concluding some of those prosecutions in this manner was an expected outcome of that exercise.”
EPS said the development wouldn’t diminish their officers’ commitment to keeping the public safe and preventing crime. It also suggested staying of the cases has not changed its perception of how Crown prosecutors are doing their jobs.
“Ultimately, all files are passed onto the Crown for prosecution. The EPS respects the Crown’s decisions on how files are handled in court.”
Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association on stayed cases by Anonymous TdomnV9OD4 on Scribd
-With files from Phil Heidenreich, Global News
Watch below: On Tuesday, we learned 15 cases in Alberta won’t go to court because the Crown prosecutor’s office is reportedly stretched too thin. As Vinesh Pratap reports, that number is just a fraction of how many have been dropped already this year.
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