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Getting Jury Trials Back on Track Uncharted Territory
CBA NATIONAL MAGAZINE
Getting Jury Trials Back on Track
We need to look at both short-term fixes and longterm solutions.
During his annual press conference last week, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Richard Wagner warned that the justice system in Canada was not prepared for a pandemic emergency, and that it should be time to consider new initiatives as a result of the crisis.
“To do nothing would be irresponsible,” Wagner said. “These are not simple challenges and there are no simple solutions. But we have some of the best minds in the country working on these problems, not just through our action committee (with Minister of Justice David Lametti), but also through the Canadian Bar Association, the Advocates Society and others.”
“All stakeholders in the justice system have a responsibility to contribute to solutions,” Wagner added. “I am confident the changes we make will make our justice system more resilient and more efficient in the years to come.”
In particular, Wagner pointed to addressing jury trials being halted by the pandemic as an immediate priority.
“We worked on guidelines which will be published very soon and at the same time we discussed
ideas on issues that could help in the long run, could help improve the justice system,” Wagner said of the work of the action committee. “Many of those ideas come from judges, lawyers, experts in that field. They are on the table, they are discussed. Eventually (they) could lead to some amendments to the Criminal Code if Parliament decides to do it, but at the end of the day, that’s up to Parliament to decide those issues.”
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CBA NATIONAL MAGAZINE Uncharted Territory
The law office of the future will look and feel different following the COVID-19 pandemic.
While lawyers and support staff are still mostly working from home, management teams are making plans to reopen law offices. But what will life at the office look like, both immediately and further into the future?
