Extended Legal Proceedings Challenge Fairness and Efficiency
THUNDER BAY – ANALYSIS – In Ontario, the path to justice is becoming increasingly protracted, with legal proceedings stretching into years, testing the patience of stakeholders and potentially compromising the principle of “justice delayed is justice denied.”
An article penned by Daniel Waldman sharing a conversation with a fellow lawyer, as recounted in January, starkly illustrates the gravity of the situation: a simple scheduling for a short motion in Superior Court in Toronto is pushed to May 2025, underscoring the systemic delays plaguing the province’s courts.
Howard Levitt writing in the Financial Post states, “The system is broken. There is an insufficient number of judges to handle the sheer volume of hearings and motions being scheduled. Scheduling has never been easier but the bottleneck rests on the back end. No judges are available to hear the matters once scheduled.”
Thunder Bay: A Case Study of Systemic Delays
The situation in Thunder Bay is particularly telling, where the criminal court system appears to be overwhelmed. Individuals find themselves caught in a cycle of remand, indicative of a system struggling under the weight of insufficient staffing and an overstretched judiciary.
Inmates are forced to live in what they tell NetNewsLedger are inhuman conditions. Cells meant for two are inhabited by up to four inmates. Perhaps it is time a few Judges toured the District Jail.
It is also bad across the district. In Kenora, a new wing at the Kenora jail with single cells and reasonable conditions remains unused because there is a shortage of Corrections Officers.
Anecdotal evidence from a recent bail hearing in the Thunder Bay District Court reveals the strain on the judiciary, with an exasperated judge expressing a poignant sense of weariness before granting bail to a defendant involved in a drug raid. The judge stated, “I am old, I am tired, and I have had enough”.
Imagine how some of the inmates stuck in the District Jail might feel?
Now before you start thinking that this is a rant against the system and its treatment of inmates, there is also the simple fact that these long delays are impacting the victims of crime as well.
Across Ontario cases are being thrown out because of the long delays in the courts.
Legal Practitioners’ Frustration
Lawyers express frustration at the revolving door of the local legal system, where the practice of law is overshadowed by procedural standstills. Efforts to quantify the extent of the delays—specifically cases extending beyond the 18-month benchmark set by the Supreme Court of Canada for starting a trial—have been thwarted by the challenging task of obtaining clear data from the Attorney General of Ontario’s office.
NetNewsLedger is aware of cases that have dragged on for long past 18 months not coming to trial, and then the Crown offering “deals” to the accused in order to secure a guilty plea. Those are accepted in some cases because the accused simply wants the whole mess behind them.
In many cases this is a matter of legal aid failures, where overworked lawyers for defendants can’t dedicate the time needed for proper defences to be mounted. Sometimes it is almost as if the Crown and the Defence are seeing the failures in the system are are like inmates themselves struggling with Stockholm syndrome.
Impact on Lives and Infrastructure
The repercussions of these delays are far-reaching, affecting not only the accused but also the integrity of the justice system. In Thunder Bay, the district jail, long recognized as inadequate, exacerbates the issue. Overcrowding and frequent lockdowns hinder inmates’ access to legal counsel, further stalling the legal process.
A Call for Action
This state of affairs presents a bleak picture of justice in Ontario, particularly in locales like Thunder Bay. The protracted delays not only undermine the efficiency and fairness of the legal system but also signify a broader crisis in the administration of justice. The narrative of an “old, tired” judiciary and a “big mess” in the legal framework calls for urgent attention and reform. Stakeholders and policymakers must address these systemic issues to restore faith in Ontario’s legal system and ensure timely access to justice for all.
