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My most urgent request/New Years wish of @douglasdowney: convince your government to inject funds into @LegalAidOntario (LAO).
A crisis is coming. In April 2019 the Ford govt cut its contribution to LAO by $133M (29%). We were just beginning to feel these cuts when COVID hit. /2
A crisis is coming. In April 2019 the Ford govt cut its contribution to LAO by $133M (29%). We were just beginning to feel these cuts when COVID hit. /2
Since March 16, 2020, thousands of criminal trials have been postponed and, on the criminal side, LAO has been funding mostly bail hearings, bail reviews, detention reviews, judicial pre-trials, guilty pleas and some Ontario Review Board hearings.
In response to the COVID crisis, LAO made it easier for people to apply for Legal Aid, and relaxed criteria. LAO has been a tremendous partner of the defence bar, doing whatever it could to get people out of jail and provide defence counsel with some revenue stream.
But there is a piper waiting to be paid. Those many thousands of postponed trials still have to be heard. People still continue to be arrested and held for bail. Many are homeless and need the help of counsel to arrange a bail plan.
Without counsel, many individuals who can't get bail will plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit, just to get out and get back to their families and jobs.
But mostly, trials and preliminary inquiries need to be paid for.
But mostly, trials and preliminary inquiries need to be paid for.
As the courts open up, more and more trials are being heard.
At the same time, many people have lost their jobs due to Covid, and financially qualify for Legal Aid when they might not have qualified a year ago.
At the same time, many people have lost their jobs due to Covid, and financially qualify for Legal Aid when they might not have qualified a year ago.
The perfect storm is about to arrive: more trials, more people needing Legal Aid assistance.
If the Crown is going to continue prosecuting every triable case, then either funds need to be injected into LAO, or it has to be accepted that people will represent themselves.
If the Crown is going to continue prosecuting every triable case, then either funds need to be injected into LAO, or it has to be accepted that people will represent themselves.
Self-representation is not a viable solution:
(1) Self-reps generally do not know the rules of evidence and procedure, and a 1-day trial can easily become a 1-week trial.
(2) The trial Judge is put in the untenable position of having to assist the accused through the process.
(1) Self-reps generally do not know the rules of evidence and procedure, and a 1-day trial can easily become a 1-week trial.
(2) The trial Judge is put in the untenable position of having to assist the accused through the process.
(3) For crimes of violence, counsel must be appointed to cross-examine the complainant and perhaps other civilian witnesses. Meaning that a lawyer will be paid to do part of the case, but not all of it. This is only a partial solution.
(4) The courts will be filled with Rowbotham applications, which means counsel from Crown Law - Civil will be sent in from Toronto to courts across the province (at taxpayer expense) to argue why the accused should not have the benefit of counsel.
(5) Young people (charged under 18) will continue to have counsel appointed to represent them when they are refused Legal Aid.
(6) The ORB will continue to appoint counsel, who will be paid by Legal Aid.
(6) The ORB will continue to appoint counsel, who will be paid by Legal Aid.
There is an access-to-justice disaster looming. It is going to hit us like a tsunami in 2021, once the courts are running at full capacity.
I predict that, unless proactive measures are taken very soon, we are going to see a crisis in our criminal justice system unlike anything we have ever experienced.
Mr. Downey, the last 10 months have demonstrated that your heart is really in the right place when it comes to modernizing our courts and making them functional. LAO is the final, but in my view, most important piece of the puzzle. We need your leadership on this. Thank you.
A couple of things to add:
(1) I should have said, "Please RESTORE funding". Ontario proudly had the best Legal Aid system in Canada until it was gutted by these cuts last year.
(1) I should have said, "Please RESTORE funding". Ontario proudly had the best Legal Aid system in Canada until it was gutted by these cuts last year.
(2) One thing that must be factored in is that LAO relies in part on funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario, which comes from interest on lawyers' trust accounts Because of low interest rates, that funding is being reduced by over $90M to around $30M.
If we add the Ontario government's cut to the LFO reduction, we are left with a budget about $200M less than 2 years ago - at a time when there will be higher demand for Legal Aid.
