Crack down on delays

The charter-protected right to a trial within a reasonable time is meant to ensure justice for both victims and the accused. Yet in Ontario and other provinces, our court systems have become so overburdened they are consistently unable to uphold that right.

Faced with a deepening crisis of court delays, the Supreme Court of Canada last summer imposed deadlines. Provincial courts must decide cases within 18 months from the time charges are laid; superior courts within 30 months.

Yet, in Ontario, one judge is undermining the top court’s crucial efforts to address the problem.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Susanne R. Goodman has repeatedly failed to produce written reasons for her decisions in a timely manner.

Her failure to do so has not only delayed appeals but has sometimes led higher courts to order new trials. In other words, the courts — and those caught up in them — are being held hostage by her actions.

Justice Goodman’s transgressions have not gone unnoticed. The Canadian Judicial Council, the regulatory body that oversees federally appointed judges and reviews complaints, is now investigating the judge. It’s about time. The council should ensure that Goodman is no longer allowed to unduly delay justice.

Already too many people have suffered as a result of her obstinacy in the face of repeated reprimands. Consider the case before the Ontario Court of Appeal last week. On March 1, 2014, the complainant called police and alleged she had been punched, beaten with a mop handle, attacked with a knife and raped by Stanislaw Sliwka over the course of more than a year.

A police officer who arrived at the scene testified he was horrified by what he saw when she opened the door. She had extensive injuries, including bruising, cuts, swelling and bleeding and needed immediate medical assistance.

For his part Sliwka denied assaulting her and said he believed intruders had broken in and attacked her two days before she had called 911.

After the trial, Goodman said she was left with reasonable doubt and acquitted Sliwka on all charges. The Crown filed an appeal and repeatedly asked for written reasons. The judge’s repeated promises to deliver were repeatedly missed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal rightly slammed Goodman for the delays.

“The trial judge’s failure to give reasons, despite her repeated promises to do so, has frustrated the administration of justice,” Court of Appeal Justice David Doherty wrote for the three-judge panel. “Nor is this the first time that this trial judge’s failure to provide reasons has required the court to order a new trial. It must be the last time.”

Indeed. Amid the crisis of court delays in this province, Goodman’s actions are particularly unconscionable.

Now it’s time for the Canadian Judicial Council to ensure that justice is done. Unlike Goodman, it should not delay.

Too many people have suffered as a result of delayed justice