One small paper talking about the court system

Justice System Won't Be Fixed With Only Money
July 26th, 2011 | Doug Collins



Our justice system is like our health care system - it's not going to be fixed by simply throwing more money at it. Critics are suggesting the appointment of five new provincial court judges won't be enough to address the serious crisis facing B.C.'s justice system. Delays in the court system are resulting in judges throwing out cases because of the length of time it takes to get cases to court. The B.C. Crown Counsel Association says the new appointments won't address other resource shortages, such as increasing the numbers of Crown Lawyers, sheriffs and court staff. And all of this is true.



But what needs to be taken on is a complete review of the system and how it operates. It's fine for judges to throw cases out, but how much of the problem is created by the judges themselves? And they do create part of the problem. And how about the lawyers themselves? They're part of the problem too. So many delays are created because lawyers maybe take on too much and juggle too many cases and things continually get put off and put off for convenience sake. A lawyer tells the judge he'll be away or isn't ready, and the case is put over, and after that happens several times, the judge throws the case out. That's not the fault of a lack of resources - that's the fault of the people within the system.



I am not suggesting for a moment that more resources don't have to be committed. But those within the system already have to be accountable and own up to their part in the failure of the system to work. And the only way we can change things is for everyone to be a part of putting a new plan in place that will make significant changes. The same old same old, and just throwing money into an already broke system will do for the legal system what it's doing for the health care system-absolutely nothing.