Province names new judges to speed up courts

The Ontario government has begun to follow through on a December pledge to address backlogs in the justice system by appointing three new Ontario Court of Justice judges for Ottawa.

Judges Norman Douglas Boxall, Walter Vincent Clifford and Marlyse Dumel begin their terms on the bench on March 1.

Boxall has practised criminal law for 37 years, appearing in all levels of court, and has also been designated as Special Advocate by the Minister of Justice.

He has also been a member of Legal Aid Ontario’s Criminal Law Advisory Board, president of the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa and president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association.

Ottawa defence attorney Mark Ertel was complimentary about the appointments.

“These appointments prove that the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee works and that the Attorney General is committed to putting the finest lawyers on the bench to tackle the delay problems that have crept up in the last few years,” he said.

Clifford joins the court after a 26-year career in which he represented individuals in hundreds of trials, including more than 15 homicide cases in Ontario’s eastern region.

In 2008, Clifford was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in criminal law. In 2010 and 2011, Clifford provided training in the Mexican state of Yucatan as part of a binational initiative aimed at developing an adversarial criminal justice system in Mexico.

He’s also been a term professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law since 2010 and has lectured at Osgoode Hall Law School, Queen’s University Faculty of Law, Carleton University and others.

Dumel has been with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada since 2004.

In addition to conducting criminal prosecutions, her work has included developing training materials and providing training and support for police.

She has served as secretary of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada’s National Prosecution Policy Committee and as a member of its National Employment Equity Committee.

Dumel is also a founding member of the Afro-Caribbean Cotillion, where she mentors young women in job search, résumé writing, and youth and the law sessions.

She also volunteers with the University of Ottawa leading an introduction to criminal law session, and is a mentor with the Law Society of Upper Canada and the University of Ottawa’s Women’s Legal Mentorship program.

The appointments, part of a program unveiled by Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi on Dec. 1, are part of $25 million a year investment intended to reduce the time it takes for cases to go through court while also easing pressure on Ontario’s overcrowded jails by reforming bail.

Naqvi said the province will be appointing 13 new judges and hiring 32 new prosecutors, 16 new Legal Aid Ontario duty counsel and 26 new court staff in an effort to speed up the courts.