Defence lawyer irate at trial delays because of shortage of prosecutors
Government pledges $10M for 50 new hires for domestic abuse cases
The day after the Alberta government introduced legislation to help curb domestic violence, a Calgary defence lawyer sounded off over the lack of prosecutors handling such cases.
Defence counsel Adriano Iovinelli told court he was informed the earliest an assigned prosecutor was available to handle his in-custody client’s day-and-a-half domestic violence trial was July.
Iovinelli said that was despite court time being available as early as Dec. 2, leading Judge Gerry Meagher to tell the lawyer to schedule that date.
The provincial court judge said if the Crown can’t be ready then, they’ll face the possibility of the charges against Iovinelli’s client being thrown out.
“We can’t have a person on a charge like this sitting in custody until July,” Meagher said of the accused, who faces domestic-related charges of assault causing bodily harm and intimidation.
The lawyer and the judge agreed the problem didn’t lie with the Crown prosecutor’s office, but the province for a lack of manpower.
“The government can do better,” Iovinelli said.
The lawyer noted that when the province created a court dedicated to domestic-related offences, it was to streamline such cases.
“There was a direction that we had trials within 90 days,” Iovinelli said.
But he said a lack of prosecutors is having the opposite effect.
“Everything this court was designed to do is not happening anymore.”
The need for expedience was the potential “collateral damage” of domestic allegations, which often affect children and have child welfare ramifications, Iovinelli noted. “Something is wrong,” he said. “I appreciate more Crown prosecutors is the answer.”
Government spokesman Jonah Mozeson said the province will be investing $10 million to hire 50 new Crown prosecutors and support staff.
“Albertans deserve a better justice system that protects them, their loved ones and their property,” Mozeson, press secretary to Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer, said in a statement.
“Hiring new Crown prosecutors will help increase the safety of Albertans with a fairer, faster and more responsive justice system.”
He said the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service has not yet determined the allocation of the 50 new hires, but the decisions will be finalized following the budget release later this month.
Meanwhile, Kim Ruse, executive director of the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter, said a court backlog for domestic violence cases directly affects a victim’s healing process.
“For a case that involves domestic violence that is involving relationships and, potentially, very tragic or dangerous outcomes, you really do need to be dealing with it in a timely manner,” said Ruse.
She said domestic violence court cases need to be handled in a timely manner to benefit both the victim and the perpetrator, who can then access resources to get the help they need.
Although she hasn’t been made aware by her shelter clients of the lag in court, Ruse said it is likely due to the increase of domestic violence incidents in the city — what many are calling an “epidemic.”
On Wednesday, the province introduced the Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act, also known as Clare’s Law, aimed at curbing crimes involving intimate partners in Alberta, which has Canada’s third-highest rate of police-reported intimate partner violence. The legislation is based on a law implemented in the United Kingdom in 2014.
It is named after Clare Wood, who was killed in England in 2009 and was unaware of her partner’s violent past, including that he served six years for holding a woman captive at knifepoint for 12 hours.
Alberta’s version of Clare’s Law will provide the opportunity for victims and potential victims to apply for information on whether their partner has a history of domestic violence, or the “right to ask.”
It will also enable the “right to know,” where police can provide the same information to those at risk of domestic violence without an application.