Fewer charges laid last year
Adult offenders spend less time in temporary custody but youth offenders wait longer
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 3, 2014
NUNAVUT
The total number of criminal charges laid in Nunavut decreased by roughly 15 per cent in 2013, according to the second annual Nunavut Court of Justice report.
The Nunavut Court of Justice released its second annual report on Feb. 24, in which it gives statistics on the operating environment and court operations. Fewer charges were laid in Nunavut during 2013, compared to the previous year. - NNSL file photo |
The document, titled Ingiravugut Suli: Our Journey Continues, was released on Feb. 24. It contains a variety of statistics from last year's court operations.
While fewer total charges were laid in Nunavut, the number of youth charges increased slightly.
Furthermore, the number of cases closed in 2013 by the court increased from the previous year.
One of the reasons behind this is the carryover from prior homicide cases.
"Many serious charges, such as homicide, can be expected to take several years to work their way through the court," the report states.
"In 2011 there were seven homicide charges laid in Nunavut. In 2012 there were an additional five homicide charges laid. The court, at the beginning of 2013, had 14 homicide charges before it in various states of completion."
Cape Dorset had the highest ratio of criminal charges per population, with 630 charges in a community of roughly 1,360 people.
Repulse Bay, meanwhile had the lowest with only 53 charges laid in a community of 945 people.
Twenty-five per cent more adult offenders spent time in detention while awaiting trial or a sentencing hearing - also known as remand - in 2013 than the year before, according to the report.
The average time adults spent in remand decreased, however, to an average of 54 days in 2012-2013 from 70.7 days in 2011-2012.
"Remanded citizens are usually charged with either more serious, or a greater volume of offences, which generally take longer to resolve," the report states.
Conversely, the elapsed time from first to last court appearance for youth criminals kept increasing last year.
The mean number of days was roughly 180 days as opposed to a little more than 150 days in 2012.
In comparison, youth only waited around 30 days between first and last court cases in 2000.
The increase is partially explained by the number of youth criminal charges laid in the last three calendar years.
"The increase is also partially a result of pre-sentence reports being mandatory in cases where the accused young person is facing a period of incarceration," the report states. "Similarly, youth involved in community justice diversion programs may take longer to see their case resolved, as the case cannot be closed until the youth has completed the requirements of the diversion program."
The court plans on doubling the frequency of youth court sitting in Iqaluit in 2014 in an effort to shorten case processing times for youth.
Meanwhile, the number of custom adoptions more than doubled in 2013, rising to 282 from 93 the year before.
Technological changes in 2014
* A Court Information System (CIS) that will provide ready access to statistics by authorized stakeholders like lawyers, corrections staff and RCMP which will reduce the need for paper warrants and court orders and provide user-friendly automated court orders for all matters.
* A secure and integrated electronic filing system will allow pleas to be filed online and stored electronically. The system will allow online searches by authorized users of all the filings currently before the court.
* A secure online means for paying court fees and fines.
* An electronic archive to store and back up all archived files.
* A multi-line recording system for use by the Justice of the Peace court to record show cause hearings.
* The sound system in the Iqaluit courthouse will be upgraded.
* The court's video conferencing capabilities will be expanded into all three courtrooms in Iqaluit, and the court's bandwidth will be upgraded to support two video courts running simultaneously.
* A portable video conferencing unit will be purchased and tested for use on court circuits where bandwidth and hard wiring are available to support the use of such a unit.
* A portable digital recording system will be purchased and tested for use on court circuits to ensure all court proceedings are properly recorded.
* A universal electronic transcript system will be developed, as well as an electronic universal format and standards guide.
* Software that allows digital marking of audio and videotaped statements used in the courtroom will be purchased and tested.
* A system to manage and track the maintenance and replacement needs of all critical information technology hardware used by the court, such as laptops taken on circuit court will be developed.
* A user-friendly template that can be accessed on the court's website by members of the public and the bar for all court-filing purposes will be developed and implemented.
* A secure e-mail network for the Justices of the Peace will be developed to enable secure communication between Justices of the Peace across the territory.
