NCJ Number
86303
Date Published
1979
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This essay recommends legislative and administrative changes that will facilitate more efficient criminal procedure in Canada.
Abstract
Legislation should be adopted to require the consideration and resolution of certain issues prior to trial so as to avoid delays resulting from consideration of these issues during the trial. Such issues might be special pleas, res judicata and issue estoppel, severance of trial, venue, joinder of counts, alternative charges, amending of defective indictments, particulars, fitness to stand trial, admissibility of evidence, statutory vires, and the jurisdiction of the trial court. Trial time could also be saved if more defense lawyers made use of section 582 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which permits an accused on trial for an indictable offense to admit any fact against him/her for the purpose of dispensing with its proof. Further, time could be saved if the defendant were permitted to reelect mode of trial within a stipulated time from the date of his/her committal for trial rather than within a stipulated time from the date fixed for the opening of the court sittings, as the Code presently provides. Time could also be saved by having lawyers become more proficient in areas where they are notoriously weak and wasteful of the court's time. Many judges in Canada are expected to work with substandard libraries and little or no research aid, which lengthens the time required to render decisions. Also, judges require more help, perhaps in the form of parajudges who may conduct pretrial hearings, assist with motions, and help with other preliminary matters. Legislators could assist in reducing court congestion and delays by refraining from or revising legislation that will dramatically increase the volume of court matters. Court impact statements for all legislation would help in the development of judicial resources to compensate for the additional burden that given pieces of legislation would place on the courts.