B.C. legal groups to monitor impact of pandemic restrictions on justice system

A collection of legal groups and experts are being put to work by the British Columbia government to keep the justice system rolling amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to help with the backlog once restrictions are lifted.

The Ministry of Attorney General is forming two advisory groups to provide support and feedback ongovernment responses to the pandemic on the justice system.

More than two dozen organizations, including the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, B.C. Civil Liberties Association,RCMP and the First Nations Justice Council, will advise government on how to respond to urgent and arising issues in the system.

The ministry says a second group, which includes Beverley McLachlin, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, will recommend ways to reduce backlogs during and after the pandemic.

B.C.'s chief provincial court Judge Melissa Gillespie said in a statement last week that she anticipates staged approaches to increasing court operations as video and audio conferencing capability grows.

Most B.C. Supreme Court criminal matters were suspended in March until the end of May, but some civil, family and Appeal Court cases are being conducted by telephone.