The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the criminal justice system, leading to trial delays in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice.
The courts were paused from March to July 6th in 2020, which resulted in a backlog of cases that are now being set for trial. The Ministry of Attorney General renovated a number of courtrooms across the province to accommodate the trials. However, the limited number of courtrooms means that only a certain number of trials can be conducted at a time. The Ministry is continuing to renovate courtrooms every month to get back to a full complement of open courthouses and courtrooms during Covid across the province.
The concern is that the delays may lead to cases being thrown out for unreasonable trial delay under the Charter. To avoid this, the Ministry of the Attorney General and Crowns across the province are trying to ensure that trials are conducted within a reasonable period of time.
The delays have also led to the courts exercising some degree of leniency, asking the Crowns to come to joint submissions with defence counsel for sentences that are lower than normal in many cases. This has resulted in reasonable resolutions taking place right now, which is good news for clients and people who have been charged across the province.
It is still early to tell if significant trial delays are going to happen. However, if you are looking for leniency from the crown, it is a great time to explore that option across the province.
Virtual hearings are being conducted to reduce the backlog of cases. The Ontario Court of Justice has implemented virtual hearings for all non-trial matters and is encouraging remote hearings for criminal cases.
The Superior Court of Justice is also conducting virtual hearings for non-trial matters and is considering virtual jury trials.
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Video Transcription:
The courts reopened on July 6th and what happened was the Ministry of Attorney General renovated a number of courtrooms across the province. I believe it was about 93 in the Ontario Court of Justice lower level and in the 50’s, 53 or so in the Superior Court of Justice. So that’s still a limited number of courtrooms. So we can only accommodate so many trials right now. By the way, they are continuing to renovate safely. They are adding courtrooms. This is happening every month. They are trying to get back to a full complement of open court houses and courtrooms during Covid across the province.
So the concern then is will there be delay in the system? You are entitled to a trial within a reasonable period of time. You know there can’t be extensive delays and delays are 18 months in the Ontario Court of Justice and 30 months for more serious cases in the Superior Court of Justice. If those timelines are extended, a lawyer can bring a stay application to get basically a case thrown out for unreasonable trial delay under the Charter. So because of this the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Crowns across the province have said look, we’ve got concerns, we don’t know if it’s going to come to fruition. It’s early to tell yet, so we really don’t know if all this trial delay is going to happen, but what they are doing-which is good news for our clients and people who have been charged across the province-there is a lot of reasonable resolutions going out right now. The courts are exercising some degree of leniency asking the Crowns to come to joint submissions with defence counsel for sentences that are lower than normal in many cases. So this is what’s going on. That perception of the possibility of future trial deal is causing very good plea deals and it’s a message that I’ve sent out to my clients. It’s a great time to hire a lawyer to either 1, you know, have your trial, get it set or 2, explore whether you are looking for leniency from the crown and it’s a great time for that right across the province.
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