‘The justice system has been allowed to disintegrate’: lawyers say more support needed

A first-degree murder trial was temporarily delayed last week on Newfoundland’s west coast over a lack of sheriff’s officers and one lawyer says she wasn’t surprised, given the state of the province’s criminal justice system.

On Thursday Justice Vikas Khaladkar blasted the “deplorable state of affairs” when there weren’t enough sheriff’s officers to bring the accused, Dean Penney, to court. Penney is accused of killing his estranged wife, Jennifer Hillier-Penney. He has pleaded not guilty.

“I thought it was entirely predictable given the state of crisis that we’re in,” Lynn Moore, a partner at Morris Moore law firm and a former Crown attorney, told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.

She said it’s a problem that has gone on for 20 years over several governments.

“The justice system has been allowed to disintegrate, which I believe is what’s really happening,” said Moore.

The delay comes after provincial courts suspended some key services across the province last year.

Moore called the justice system the “poor cousin” of government and said it’s the last to get resources allocated. She added there’s a retention problem when it comes to Crown attorneys that needs to be addressed.

“Everybody else leaves because it’s hard. So someone needs to look at that and say why? Why is it that no one makes a career of this?” said Moore.

Deadline to wrap trial looms

Moore said the Penney case has to be heard by June or what’s known as a Jordan application could be filed. That refers to a Supreme Court of Canada decision setting limits on how long cases have to move through the justice system. If there are unreasonable delays, charges can be stayed.

Trials in superior courts, such as the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, should be completed within 30 months of a charge being laid.

“If there’s a week lost because there’s no sheriff’s officers, then that really puts the whole trial in jeopardy,” said Moore.

She said cases should be tried on their merits, not the failure of the system from not being adequately resourced.

WATCH | ‘It was unusual but entirely reasonable,’ says lawyer Lynn Moore:

St. John’s lawyer says N.L. government needs to address justice staffing shortages

After a first-degree murder trial was delayed due to a lack of sheriff’s officers last week, St. John’s lawyer Lynn Moore says the situation was “predictable” given the state of the system. Moore is calling on the justice minister to address the causes of staffing shortages. CBC’s Henrike Wilhelm reports.

If the Penney trial is still going in June, lawyers don’t stop the trial but there could be a Jordan application, said retired provincial Crown prosecutor Mike Murray, adding there can be a waiver of delays.

“Once any waivers are out of the way, then the next thing is for a court to put the delay in different piles. So the first pile would be exceptional circumstances, that could be anything from a blizzard in February to COVID,” Murray told On the Go last week.

Delays can also come down to the defence and Crown, as well as institutional delays caused by the court, he said — which is what happened last week in Corner Brook.

‘It’s certainly a concern’

Hours after the delay was announced Thursday, Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer gave an update on the provincial court working group, which she formed late last year, and its recommendations to address systemic issues.

One of the major problems raised was an increased workload due in large part to more complex cases, without a corresponding increase in resources like sheriff’s officers and court clerks.

Joe Thorne, advocacy chair with the Canadian Bar Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, said the provincial court has “identified chronic understaffing and staff retention issues” for sheriff’s officers and court staff. He said it’s a problem across the country.

He said case complexity has increased in part due to changing rules over the years, increases in paperwork and documentation, as well as requirements around fairness.

“You need, you know, more resources to deal with that. And the courts have simply not been able to keep up with that,” Thorne told Newfoundland Morning.

He’s glad to see the problem being addressed by the province, which he said will require funding that goes towards recruiting and retaining staff, technology advancements and infrastructure changes.

“In order to have a proper functioning justice system, it needs to be well funded, it needs to be well staffed. And when those two pieces of that fall down, this is the kind of thing you start to see,” said Thorne.

He said the Canadian Bar Association is concerned cases could be thrown out over delays in the meantime, pointing to Thursday’s delay at the Penney trial.

“It’s certainly a concern.”

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.