Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton has issued the following statement:

“Canadian justice ministers will meet this week to discuss matters including restorative justice, justice efficiency and recent concerns expressed about the impact of a Supreme Court of Canada decision on unreasonable delay in criminal prosecutions.

“At this meeting I will be sharing the tremendous progress British Columbia has made in reforming our justice system to reduce delay. The Supreme Court of Canada recently set limits for the length of criminal court cases, from charge to the conclusion of the trial. While every case that results in a delay or a stay is concerning, it is important to keep in perspective that in the year to date only 12 cases have been discontinued in B.C. due to delay. Last year, B.C.’s criminal justice branch concluded 58,000 prosecutions.

“British Columbia is recognized nationally as a ‘champion of change’ for its leadership in criminal justice reform. Recently, Murray Segal, former Ontario deputy attorney general and legal expert, compared the B.C. Prosecution Service to its counterparts in the Commonwealth and concluded: ‘There are few new ideas out there and few new opportunities that British Columbia has not already embraced.’

“Our reputation as leaders in innovation and improvement has been earned through reforming the way criminal cases are managed, working to resolve cases early in the process, and pioneering new ways to improve court efficiency to reduce stress on people who find need to use the justice system.

“Justice reform is being achieved through criminal case management reforms such as the way we prosecute criminal gangs, by focusing on the offender not the crime in specialized courts like the Downtown Community Court, and by helping parents and families access mediation or counselling to resolve family law disputes.

“British Columbians can have confidence that B.C. has one of the best justice systems in Canada, if not the world. We will not falter in our ambition to continue to be a world leader and transform our justice system to be more accessible, more efficient and less complex.”