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Life behind the bench

Inside the Justice of the Peace courtroom

Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 05/02) - It's 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon and Erik Kieken is about to decide whether an accused drug trafficker should be released on bail or held in custody.

NNSL photo

Const. Andrew Hobson reviews the files for upcoming cases to be heard in Justice of the Peace Court. Hobson prosecutes most of the cases appearing in JP court. - Tara Kearsey/NNSL photo

NNSL photo

Order in the Court

- The Justice of the Peace program has been in place in the NWT since the 1950s.

- The program is divided into different levels depending upon the kind of work they do.

- JPs at the administrative level are trained to swear-in information, issue summons and conduct other paperwork.

- Some presiding JPs are trained to do show cause hearings (bail hearings) and search warrant applications.

- The second presiding level grants the justices the authority to sentence individuals who enter guilty pleas.

- At the highest presiding level, JPs also have the authority to hold trials.

- Currently there are approximately 60 appointed Justices of the Peace across the NWT.

- JPs at the administrative level are paid $35 an hour. Presiding JPs are paid $45 per hour. They also receive an annual honorarium.

- Justice of the Peace courts in the NWT handle from 7,000 to 10,000 cases per year.

- In Yellowknife, Justice of the Peace court is held every second Thursday from 7 p.m. until approximately 9 p.m.

- The court also sits at various times during the week for bail hearings and first appearances. Those sessions are usually very brief, lasting about 30 minutes on average.



As a justice of the peace, he isn't dressed in traditional territorial judge's robe. Nor does he talk in sentences filled with legal jargon. He wears a suit and tie, maybe the same sort of suit he would wear at his full-time job as an insurance appraiser for Arctic West Insurance.

He pleasantly greets the court with a friendly smile and a 'good afternoon.' Court begins soon after the RCMP court officer asks which case he would like to hear first.

For Kieken, a former RCMP officer, being a justice of the peace means having a passion for law and order, making a difference and providing a valuable community service.

"You have to have a general interest in people and you certainly have to have a thick skin," Kieken said.

It's a much more informal atmosphere than in territorial court where the judge looks down on the proceedings from behind a tall bench.

A JP sits at eye level with the defendant and Crown -- usually an RCMP court officer. Most offenders are represented by a court worker from the Legal Aid division.

Crown prosecutors usually only appear in JP court if an accused is up for a bail hearing and seeking release from custody.

It works in the North

The program has been in place since the 1950s, before resident judges were assigned to the NWT.

JPs deal with offences such as driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding violations, assaults and theft.

While JP court is virtually extinct in other Canadian jurisdictions, in the NWT it continues to be an effective and efficient way to maintain justice at the community level, says the Chief Judge Robert Halifax.

"Most communities had their JP courts where there weren't resident judges to deal with the minor offences quickly and effectively," said Halifax, who has administered the JP program in the NWT for the last 12 years.

According to Halifax, the advantage of JP court is that it moves a lot of cases along very efficiently.

"To be quite frank, if we had to do them in territorial court I would need at least three or four judges. We're talking thousands of cases a year that they deal with," said Halifax.

Most offenders appear in JP court for guilty pleas and sentencing. There are not usually many trials held there.

Justice of the Peace court will not preside over sexual assault cases, matters involving RCMP members or their families, or anything that involves Charter applications or technical impaired driving cases which require testimony by expert witnesses.

"We try to avoid putting (the JP's) in a position where they're going to get in over their head and a lot of them felt they didn't want to deal with sexual assaults at the community-level if it got to the point of charges being laid," said Halifax.

The most qualified Justice of the Peace candidate, according to Halifax, would know about the local history of a community, demonstrate maturity and wisdom with considerable life experience, and be able to read and understand laws and be able to interpret what they mean.

Before 1990, the JP court program was co-ordinated by the Department of Justice.

"What used to happen was you would get appointed as a JP and they would send you a Criminal Code and a certificate in the mail saying you are now a JP, go do it! And, we'll eventually get you in for a little bit of training here and there," said Halifax.

In the late 1980s, Halifax was special advisor to a task force made up of Justices of the Peace and coroners.

The task force recommended that the Minister of Justice develop a JP program, which consisted of several different levels, and transfer the authority over the program to the Chief Judge's office. Halifax said there seems to be an increase in cases flowing through JP court in recent years, but like everything else, he added, crime is cyclical.

"Looking at our caseload there is an increase, which tends to be pretty much what's happening across the country.

"We've kind of gone through a few-year period where things were flat and in some jurisdictions there was a decrease in caseloads, but it seems to be picking up again country-wide," he said.

Halifax is unsure of the reason for a higher crime rate in recent years, although he admits the economy could have some effect.

"People tend to think that if it's hard times you'll have more crime, but you could have good times and more crime because people have got money and do stupid things."

No line up of candidates

To become a Justice of the Peace an individual must first apply to the Chief Judge's Office. Then an RCMP criminal records check and a community background check are conducted to determine an applicant's suitability.

A committee then reviews all applications and makes recommendations to the Chief Judge who then makes a final recommendation to the Minister of Justice.

"But outside of a couple of communities there is no line of people looking to be JPs," Halifax says with regret.

Just about every community in the North has a Justice of the Peace, but often they end up running for elected public office positions such as mayor or MLA and the community is without a JP for a considerable amount of time.

"Then we end up losing a JP and it may be a while before we can get a replacement trained up to that level again.

"So it's an ongoing process of continually starting people out at level one and working them up," said Halifax.

Another difficulty in finding suitable Justices of the Peace is that some individuals do not want to decide the fate of local offenders, especially in the smallest communities, something that frustrates Halifax.

"In some cases we get people who say they don't want to be sentencing people or doing trials ... some just don't want to take on the responsibility of judging other people in their community."

While Kieken has not had any difficulties serving as a Justice of the Peace in Inuvik and Yellowknife, he does understand the concerns of JPs in the smallest communities.

"I think some JPs have had difficulties and we have probably lost JPs in the past years because of that, but I think in a place like Yellowknife people can remain more separate than in the smaller communities," he said.

When Kieken presides in JP court, he tries to be as fair as possible when handing down sentences. Whenever possible, he attempts "to go that extra mile" by giving the offender some words of wisdom for the future.

"If I feel I've done them a good turn, then I don't feel bad at whatever the outcome is."