Victim’s Mother Worries She Won’t Live to See Justice as Murder Case Faces Delays
Who suffers most from delays in forensic assessments? We know from Canadian experiences, such as that we noted earlier in Manitoba, that delays in fitness to stand trial assessments can lengthen dramatically without much fanfare or notice by the general public (See: Psychiatric Assessment Backlog in Manitoba). Where there is a strong appearance that the accused was suffering from a profound mental illness that properly …
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UK Victims’ Commissioner Report Demonstrates the Effects of Court Delays on Victims
The UK’s Victims’ Commissioner Annual Report demonstrates that there are several orders of consequences to chronic delays. Court delays and backlogs often leave crime victims reliving their pain rather than finding closure. Far from the vindicating justice they seek, many feel “stuck in a cycle of reliving their traumatic experiences” through endless investigations, prosecutions, and courtroom ordeals. For victims, court should mark progress in healing …
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Alabama Aims to Prioritise Violent Crime Cases
Alabama’s new Speedy Trial Act offers an insight into the growing recognition of the several benefits of achieving timeliness. The Attorney General’s press release features four goals: (1) Prioritizing violent crime cases; (2) Protecting victims and witnesses; (3) Reducing court backlogs; and (4) Strengthening public trust. Prioritising violent crime cases will hopefully have all four effects. The right to a timely trial has always been …
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The Advocate Article: “Delay and Timeliness: Part III – Obstacles and Implementation”
“The obstacles that are commonly raised against increasing timeliness include the following: more judges and more resources are needed; lawyers lack trial experience and are simply taking too long; the volumes of evidence and complexities of our legal system drive more intensive and longer process; and lawyers and parties are not cooperating in reducing the courts’ work. These objections at bottom reflect the widespread commitment …
Cultural Expectations of Timeliness
Andre Picard has led an extended conversation in the Globe and Mail on the many questions respecting the quality of healthcare in Canada. In Friday, February 7’s column he focusses on two successful healthcare systems in the Netherlands and Denmark. He observes that virtually all their people have access to primary care, that there is a far more effective distribution of care duties between physicians, …
Defence Delays in Fouani Case Highlight Systemic Tug-of-War Between Timeliness and the Choice of Parties
Talal Fouani, 48, was charged in June 2022 for “laundering money for organized crime” in relation to a police investigation “into a massive, cross-border drug trafficking operation involving Mexican cartels.” According to the Alberta police, the $55-million drug bust was the largest ever in Alberta, “involving nearly one metric tonne of methamphetamine and six kilograms of cocaine.” Two weeks after Fouani was charged there was …
Re-starting the Clock: When Do We Start Measuring Timeliness
The Provincial Court of BC’s New Small Claims Practice Direction recognises that we should not force parties to start entirely afresh or rejoin the queue when a continuation is necessary or a re-trial has been ordered. This raises the important question of when we should start the clock on timeliness. The new practice direction issued by Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie for all small claims matters …
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“Inefficiency and Persistent Delays” in the Malawian Justice System, Reports the Nyasa Times
Inefficiencies and Corruption in Justice Systems The independence of judges from partisan or corrupt influence is universally valued and is a goal as old as judging itself. One symptom of both can be delays that seem calculated to benefit some litigants at the cost of others. The fact that a loss of trust often flows from reports or experiences of delay should make timeliness a …
Alleged Real Estate Fraudster With “Charges Old Enough to Drive” Still Has Not Stood Trial and Continues to Do Business
In 2002, the Vancouver police, with the help of the RCMP, “mounted what was described as the largest commercial crime investigation in the department’s history,” writes Dan Fumano for the Vancouver Sun. In 2008, criminal charges were laid against alleged real estate fraudster Tarsem Gill and Martin Wirick, Gill’s lawyer. Wirick cooperated with the investigation. He pleaded guilty in 2009 and he was disbarred and …
Timely Deadlines? Or a Timely Culture?
How do we deliver consistently speedy and timely results in justice? Do we focus on making deadlines that encourage/necessitate timeliness? Or do we begin with the culture? Perhaps we need both. But what do we begin with? This seems like a chicken-and-egg question: Do good deadlines produce a timely culture, or does a timely culture produce timely deadlines? We at Timely Justice suggest that timely …