Delays In the Administration of Justice in Canada

 Delays In the Administration of Justice in Canada

Research Topic and Rationale

Research Topic: Delays in the administration of justice in Canada

The research proposal will discuss the delays in the Canadian justice system. Canada’s criminal justice needs urgent reform. Since time immemorial, Canada has faced a challenge clearing cases and serving justice on time. According to statistics related to delays in the criminal justice system in Canada, such as Anevich (2019) and Saxton, et al., (2021), the system takes a median length of two years before closing a case. Currently, the system is still dealing with cases first mentioned in 2015. Even though court cases vary across jurisdictions, the nation still fights the delay challenges. All the jurisdictions face the same challenge, delay in moving active cases to closure. States such as Quebec take at least 228 days to deal with an adult case, whereas nationally, closing adult cases takes approximately five years. This period of delay has been consistent for over ten years. To complete a case, an offender and offended must make several appearances. For instance, the adult criminal case requires a five times minimum appearance. Cases involving more serious offenses require an average of sixteen appearance times, whereas superior court cases require a minimum appearance of eleven times. The appearance times are always spread to different periods. For instance, when a convict must appear eleven times, the periods can be spread to after every month, two months, or any suitable period. The appearance spread depends on several factors, such as the backlog and nature of the case. The problem has persisted for a long time, yet studies under the same are still ongoing. My interest in an attempt to understand why serving justice is such a challenge in the nation prompted me to this study. By understanding the reasons behind the delay, I will learn what needs to be done and how that will help the judicial system move cases faster. The research insight will improve the country’s criminal justice system. It will also help the system develop appropriate solutions to the problem.

Research Question and Purpose of Research

Research Question: How can Canada deal with delays in the justice administration?

Purpose of the research: Exploratory. My primary research purpose is exploration. I am interested in understanding why the judicial system is still facing delays in closing cases irrespective of the numerous studies done on the problem. 

Annotated Bibliography

Piché, C. (2017). Administering Justice and Serving the People: The Tension between the Objective of Judicial Efficiency and Informal Justice in Canadian Access to Justice Initiatives. Erasmus Law Review, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.5553/ELR.000078

The article aims at exploring the canadine legal system and the challenges involved in the attempt to access justice. Even though the Canadian court system is considered efficient and legitimate, its users still get delusional about its ability to effect fair and timely closure to cases. The author was interested in discovering the barriers to access justice in Canada. From the law review, Piché reports several barriers to effective judicial access. She points out that judges play a vital role in the delay of court cases. The judges have complex case management imposing high costs on the justice delivery. As much as judges are supposed to respect the principle of proportionality, the author notes that judges fail to observe the case timeline and proposed trial length. Understanding law among Canadians has also been a barrier to justice delivery. Some Canadians still face the challenge of cultural, language, and communication barriers, which slows down the court hearings and procedures. The Canadian justice system is still facing the equality challenge. According to the author, corporations and individuals with higher means often use the Canadian justice system. According to the Canadian bar association’s access to justice committee, the system lacks a public profile, adequate strategy, and coordination and reflection with the needs of the people it is supposed to serve. The author also mentions that most people who seek the judicial help lack legal representation. Canadians lack counsel representation, with only 45 percent of users with lawyers’ representation. Without legal representation, judges face difficulty dealing with cases and reaching a conclusion. The author used the exploration method to get information from previous similar studies and explore the government’s court data.

My interest is in understanding the delayed justice in the nation. Pichés research helps me understand some of the barriers resulting in delayed justice. From her research, only the resolution to the barriers can help reduce the cases of delayed court’s ruling.

LaRoche, K., Marais, M. L., & Salter, D. (2021). The Length of Civil Trials and Time to Judgment in Canada: A Case for Time-Limited Trials. The Canadian Bar Review, 99(2). https://cbr.cba.org/index.php/cbr/article/view/4696

In this review, LaRoche et al. (2021) were interested in analyzing the time taken for trial and judgment. Even though the authors acknowledged the commendable reforms in the judicial system, they did not ignore the justice challenge still prevalent. Their research questions, “how long do civil trials take, how long does it take the judges to decide, and are litigants giving up on justice?” aim to explore why cases take longer than expected in the trial and judgment process. The researchers used statistical analysis to get comparative details and empirically grounded hypotheses. The building of their factual framework relied on surveys. Even though the research accepts that trial and judgment time shortening might be challenging, they recommend a set timeframe for any case, limiting the time a case stays unsolved.

The research is similar to mine, which makes it significant. With the help of the study, I was able to understand one way the cases can be shortened. It also helped me determine the appropriate data collection method that has not been commonly utilized.  

Anevich, M. (2019). Fighting the Culture of Complacency: A Comparative Analysis of Pretrial Delay Remedies in Canada and the United States. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 24(1), 39-77.

In his study, Avenich tries to answer the question “why cases in the federal system of the USA resolve faster as compared to Canadian courts and how the methods used in the United States courts can be imported and used into Canadian law to reduce the delays?” In his research, Avenich uses the comparative research method in comparing the two systems. The researcher recommends that the Canadian justice system should infuse more resources to help move the cases faster. He also recommends that the Canadian system should remove the preliminary inquiries which delay cases.

I find his study helpful as he tries to explore the reasons for the delay in cases closure, comparing the Canadian system with the USA federal system. His research helps in the understanding of how other judicial systems work. His recommendations are also helpful in understanding the better ways to improve our judicial system.

Saxton, M. D., Olszowy, L., MacGregor, J. C., MacQuarrie, B. J., & Wathen, C. N. (2021). Experiences of intimate partner violence victims with police and the justice system in Canada. Journal of interpersonal violence, 36(3-4), NP2029-2055NP. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260518758330

The study was trying to find out the contribution of police to the judicial system and how they impact the number of cases taken to the courts. The author concentrated on the intimate partner violence (IPV)cases and how their understanding, with the help of the police, can contribute to the reduction of similar cases in the judicial system. The research aims at exploring Frequency of police helpfulness after reporting to them and how other law systems such as the family help. The researcher used descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected from closed-ended survey questions. The author also analyzed the text responses of the content on a subset of 2831 people who had reported IPV cases to the police. From the study, at least 35% of the IPV victims reported the cases to the police. The police tried to create an understanding between the parties without taking the cases to court. That ratio reported a mixed perception of the help they acquired from the police. The solution before proceeding to courts depended on how lucky the individuals got from such cases while dealing with the police. With proper resolution, victims resolved without getting to the courts, which played a role in reducing the number of cases taken to the courts.

When many cases are presented to the judges, the courts experience a backlog that causes case closure delays. The study intended to uncover how common cases can be resolved without taking them further and overwhelming the judicial system. The study helped me understand how the courts end up with unmanageable cases, yet some can be solved out of court. The judicial system must introduce other means of handling some cases if court case delays are to be handled.  

Methodology

The research will use a qualitative study. I will interview people who have delayed cases to get an in-depth understanding of the reality of the situation. Some of the interview questions will be listed below. The nature of the research intends to unfold the delay in case ruling in the Canadian courts. Interviewing people who have been directly affected will help give practical answers. With the interviews between me and few convicts and/or court users, I will understand the two sides, why the judges delay cases and the barriers from their end, and why the convicts or the offended have the cases delayed and whatever they would have done better to have their cases handled without taking much time. Another interview will be given to someone working closely with the case ruling. A judge from any court will be a good candidate for that. The judge will help unveil why they delay cases and how the issue can be resolved. Some of the interview questions for the identified judge will be. The interview method will allow me to judge nonverbal respondent behaviors. It will also give a better response rate than other research methods requiring the respondent to write their answers, such as the questionnaires. The method is flexible and favorable to my schedule. Even though chances of lying during interviews are limited, the interviewees might withhold vital information. Some interviewees might also refuse and give invalid and incorrect answers that favor their side. The process will be time-consuming since I will be forced to move from place to place. 

Interview Questions for convicts and/or offended

Ø  What was your case about?

Ø  How long have you waited before its resolution?

Ø  How many appearances was your case given?

Ø  Did you find have a lawyer to represent the case?

Ø  What could be the reasons for the case delay?

Ø  What do you think you could have done to fasten the case?

Ø  Did you have another option to resolve your case?

Ø  What do you think the justice system could have done better to rule in your case?

Interview Questions for a judge

Ø  How many cases do you have in progress?

Ø  How many cases over ten years old do you still hold?

Ø  What are the reasons for the prolonged delay in closing cases?

Ø  Do offenders and offended contribute to cases delays? If yes, how?

Ø  What do you think the system should do to fasten the closure of the cases?

Research participants

The participants for the interview will be court users and a judge. I will randomly identify a sample and interview 20 people for court users and ordinary citizens. Many people have been convicts or the offended, which gives me a choice to pick a number I want. I will also look for a representative judge who will act as a volunteer respondent. I will only interview one judge since my chances of getting more are limited due to their tight schedule. 

Threats to Validity and Reliability

The mode of selection of the interviewees might be biased. The research might interview individuals who had their cases smooth and leave those who suffered the delay. The bias is a threat to research validity. Attrition might also be a threat. Randomly meeting people who have been victims of justice delay or finding more court workers who might help with the interview will be extra information that might not be accounted for in the results, leading to an inaccurate study sample. Respondent bias is a possible threat to data reliability. During the interview, the respondents might give answers that favor them. For instance, irrespective of personal failures and lack of commitment to dealing with cases, a judge respondent might decide to give responses that favor him, such as workload and lack of evidence for many cases. Conversely, a court user respondent might respond in the blame for the court, judges, and the system without mentioning their failures in simplifying their cases. 

Ethical Considerations

The research will only interview participants who voluntarily want to share. Even though the sample will be taken randomly, the chosen group will only entail willing participants. If among the chosen quota an individual decides to withdraw, they will be replaced with another willing person. All participants’ identities will be concealed. It is tempting to mention probably the judge and other interviewees, but I will only do that with their permission. Honesty will be hard to determine. Whatever the interviewees respond might be true or untrue, and getting honesty from them might not be a guarantee. However, before the interview, I will request the respondents to answer genuinely and remind them that their honest answers will be of significant contribution. 

Final Thoughts

There are few similar studies. Getting information on why there are delays in the Canadian judicial system was challenging. Many research designs and data collection methods suit. Justice delayed is not justice denied. Many factors result in case delays, and some might be inevitable. Even though cases might take long, justice will eventually be served as long as all other factors such as evidence availability remain constant. However, the system should be reformed to ensure that the delay is resolved, not unless its causes are unavoidable. 

References

Anevich, M. (2019). Fighting the Culture of Complacency: A Comparative Analysis of Pretrial Delay Remedies in Canada and the United States. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 24(1), 39-77.

LaRoche, K., Marais, M. L., & Salter, D. (2021). The Length of Civil Trials and Time to Judgment in Canada: A Case for Time-Limited Trials. The Canadian Bar Review, 99(2). https://cbr.cba.org/index.php/cbr/article/view/4696

Piché, C. (2017). Administering Justice and Serving the People. Erasmus L. Rev., 10, 137. https://doi.org/10.5553/ELR.000078

Saxton, M. D., Olszowy, L., MacGregor, J. C., MacQuarrie, B. J., & Wathen, C. N. (2021). Experiences of intimate partner violence victims with police and the justice system in Canada. Journal of interpersonal violence, 36(3-4), NP2029-2055NP. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260518758330