Court suspensions will cost people money, add safety risk, says retired prosecutor
CBC
A retired Crown prosecutor in Newfoundland and Labrador says suspensions at provincial court will make life harder for those seeking justice, and will have an impact far beyond the walls of the courtroom.
"People are using small claims [court] all the time, and to have that avenue cut off, especially when all the work was done to establish it in the first place, is a big issue," Mike Murray told CBC Radio's On The Go.
Several operations inside the provincial court system, including civil hearings, traffic hearings and some circuit courts have been suspended since Nov. 28.
Murray said the suspensions likely boil down to staffing issues and a lack of sheriff's officers in the system.
Murray said a lot of work has been done in recent years to make the provincial court more accessible, but suspensions will ultimately slow things down.
"You're going to see more cases postponed because people can't get to court, and you're going to have more warrants issued for peoples' arrest when they don't show up," he said.
Murray said he believes the situation could also present safety issues.
For example, he said, if a driver doesn't fear getting a speeding ticket because they know it could be thrown out for taking too long, more people could try to get away with dangerous driving.
"The Highway Traffic [Act] stuff is safety.... All of those things go through traffic court," he said. "If people feel that they can pass a school bus or speed and not be called to account for it, I mean that could have an impact on public behaviour."
Speaking with reporters on Monday, St. John's Mayor Danny Breen the impacts of slowdowns in traffic court are already having an impact on the city's operations.
"They haven't been heard for some time, I think it's back to September since they've been able to contest those tickets," Breen said.
"Those tickets that are in the system could have an impact of tens of thousands of dollars on the city."
His comments come just a week before St. John's releases its municipal budget.
Breen said he hopes solutions can come from the working group sooner rather than later.
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