Justice minister says upcoming court delay meeting 'not about appointing blame'

Canada's justice minister says laying blame shouldn't be on the agenda when she sits down with her provincial counterparts at the end of the month.

The ministers will discuss how to deal with the fallout caused by a controversial Supreme Court ruling last summeraimed at limiting trial delays.

• Ottawa calls meeting of justice ministers to deal with Jordan ruling fallout
• A 1st in Quebec: Man accused of murder has case stayed due to Jordan ruling
• Listen to CBC Radio's The House

The so-called Jordan decision has generated chaos in courtrooms across the province.

In July the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a reasonable delay to trial is no more than 18 months in provincial court and 30 months for cases before the Superior Court.

Those time limits have resulted in some serious cases being thrown out of court, including a case in Quebec earlier this month where a man accused of killing his wife had his charges stayed because thecase took too long to get to trial.

Since then there's been publicdisputesabout how to fix the problem. The provinces have been arguing Ottawa needs to quickly fill judicial vacancies in federal superior courts.

Administration of justice is a shared responsibility.- Jody Wilson-Raybould

But justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says much of the onus remains with the provinces, given that most criminal cases fall within their jurisdictions.

"This isn't about appointing blame in my view. This is about us as attorneysgeneralworking collaboratively to ensure we do everything we can to change the culture in our courts," she told CBC Radio's The House host Chris Hall.

"Administration of justice is a shared responsibility. Ninety-nine per cent of the criminal cases are before provincial judges."

Wilson-Raybould said she's hoping the provinces and territories can learn from each other when they sit down in the next few weeks.

"We can share the best practices that we, in our individual jurisdictions, have been advancing, we can learn from each other, and we can ensure that we are coordinating all the good work that's happening, but also identify where we can make improvements," she said.

"There's a common criminal code that applies in every jurisdiction in the country and some jurisdictions have more delays than others. And we need to understand why."

Criminal Code review needed: Ontario

For provinces, the reality of dealing with the Jordan decision has proven to be a painful one.

"The Jordan decision has been a game changer," Ontario attorney general Yasir Naqvi told The House.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, Ontario announced an additional 13 provincial judges would be appointed, and the province would hire 32 more assistant Crown attorneys, 16 duty counsel and 26 court staff.

Naqvi has also suggested eliminating preliminary inquiries for non-serious cases.

"We need to work really hard, as a collective, to ensure that we do not get into a situation where there is an erosion of trust by the public in our justice system," he said.

He added that Ottawa could help by filling judicial vacancies faster, and exploringfundamental changes to the justice system.

"The real set of solutions lies in reform of the criminal code," Naqvi argued. "We can start a national conversation and start looking at bold reforms that deal with structural issues in criminal law."

Quebec is also adding pressure to appoint more justices. JusticeMinister StphanieVallemaintains delays in the upper courtswhich hear more serious crimes, such asmurder are Ottawa's responsibility.

Manitoba looksfor OK from Ottawa

Manitoba hasn't had to stay any cases yet because of the Jordan decision, but Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said they know that time iscoming.

She's already written to Ottawa to ask permission for Manitoba to conduct a four-year pilot project to see if replacing preliminary hearings with an out-of-court discovery process to reduce court backlogs.

She'll be looking for the green light from the federal government at the emergency meeting this month.

"It still allows defence attorneys to call witnesses, but it's just not done in the form of a preliminary inquiry. Those preliminary inquiries are causing significant court backlogs," she explained to Hall.

"This is what we believe is a more moderate, balanced approach to what we need."