‘Culture of delay’ blamed for B.C. court backlog: review

VANCOUVER – A sweeping review of British Columbia’s justice system says a “culture of delay” has resulted in unacceptable backlogs within the courts.

Lawyer Geoffrey Cowper was appointed earlier this year to review why so many cases were taking months, if not years, to make their way through the courts, resulting in more than 100 being tossed out last year alone.

Cowper has identified several issues within the system that he says encourage delays among both defence lawyers and prosecutors, fail to encourage early resolution of cases and make poor use of existing court resources.

He says the system is designed as if every case goes to trial, when in fact nearly every single case is resolved without a trial.

Cowper makes a list of recommendations, including ensuring individual Crown and legal aid lawyers take ownership of files at the start of the process and encouraging both defence and prosecutors to take reasonable positions on pleas and sentencing early on.

Cowper doesn’t recommend any new money for the justice system and rejected a proposal by the provincial court to appoint 18 new judges, but says five new judges should be appointed immediately to resolve the current backlog.

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