Timeliness is necessary to the achievement of justice.
Coming out of Africa, Nicola Taljaard from Bowmans has pointed out the potential for AI to help solve the problem of undue delay in justice systems. Although AI appears as a potential remedy for countries like Brazil and India where the backlog is tens of millions of cases it is also a systemic tool. AI, as implemented in some places, can be an early selection …
British journalist Sir Simon Jenkins recently wrote an opinion piece for the Guardian in which he proposes getting rid of the jury system entirely, or at least, “drastically curtail[ing]” it. Jenkins argues, “the cost and delay of jury trials are enormous” and “there is no conclusive evidence they are more ‘just’ than systems based on judges in the rest of Europe.” Jenkins has good reason …
Continue reading Is it Time to Supplant the Jury Dozen for the Lone Wig?
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 …
Continue reading UK Victims’ Commissioner Report Demonstrates the Effects of Court Delays on Victims
“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 …
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 …
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 …
