BC: Stop Horrific Court Backlogs!
In British Columbia, cases that last more than 18 months without a trial can be thrown out because of "unreasonable delay." Currently, more than 2,500 pending cases have passed that 18-month mark and are in danger of being thrown out due to court backlogs. The crisis is reaching a point where criminal cases involving death and sexual assault will be tossed along with more minor cases.
The province has recently appointed nine new judges, but the provincial court still needs at least an additional nine judges to prevent the backlog from increasing even further. Yet the justice ministry is facing a $6 million budget cut.
In addition, because courts have so little money for legal aid and staff, more people are appearing in court without a lawyer, which slows the legal process and increases the backlog further.
Act now to tell B.C. Premier Christy Clark to allocate funds to help end the backlogs by hiring additional judges and legal staff.
We the undersigned call on you to allocate funds to help end the egregious backlogs in provincial courts.
Currently, more than 2,500 pending cases, including cases involving death and sexual assault, are in danger of being thrown out due to "unreasonable delay" caused by court backlogs.
While the province has recently appointed nine new judges, the provincial court needs at least an additional nine judges to prevent the backlog from increasing further. In addition, because courts have so little money for legal aid staff, more people are appearing in court without a lawyer, which slows the legal process and increases the backlog further.
We therefore urge you to end the crisis caused by court backlogs by allocating funds to hire additional judges and legal staff.
