From my blog: Simon Says.

In my last post I discussed the current state of the legal system, with respect to the time it takes for a case to be completed in court. With averages in 2009 of 214 days to completion and 9.2 court appearances, it’s not hard to understand why the public perception is that the system isn’t working very efficiently.

The provincial government has been aware of the dramatically increasing trend in these numbers over the past decade and in June of 2008 Attorney General Chris Bentley announced the government’s strategy to deal with this: Justice on Target.

The goal of Justice on Target is a 30% reduction in the average number of days and court appearances of 2007 numbers (which were 205 days and 9.2 appearances) by June of 2012. If successful, this would result in half a million fewer court appearances each year.

The first phase of the initiative identified seven strategies designed to move straightforward cases through the system faster, allowing more time for complex cases that require it. The first two initiatives to be implemented are dedicated prosecution and on site legal aid

In 2008, the Ontario Courts of Justice in Newmarket, North York, and London were designated as the first “Action Sites” in the phase one of the rollout. Phase two began in 2009 and included Toronto’s Old City Hall, Brampton, Windsor, Sudbury, Kitchener, Etobicoke, College Park and Scarborough.

The Justice on Target strategies were supposedly developed after consultation with all relevant participants in the criminal justice system. I can’t speak for the other participants, but I know that in policing, when someone at the top (i.e. the chief or, say, the Attorney General) asks for your input the typical PC response of management is to say what you think they want to hear. Shockingly, no one with a dissenting opinion ever seems to be asked to share their ideas. I wonder who exactly was asked for their opinions and to what extent this happened with Justice on Target.

Justice on Target is full of lofty goals and nice buzz words, but is it working? Let’s look at the numbers and then decide. Note that the only sites we can examine at this point are the three from the first phase, which began in 2008. We will use 2007 as a baseline.

In 2007 Newmarket had an average of 195 days and 8.5 appearances. In 2008 it was 218 days and 9.3 appearances, an increase of 11.8% and 9.4% respectively. 2009 showed a drop of 7.3% and 11.2% to 202 days and 8.2 appearances. Not bad…

In 2007 North York had an average of 224 days and 9.5 appearances. Statistics remained constant in 2008, but in 2009 there was a drop of 13.4% and 10.5% respectively to 194 days and 8.5 appearances. Pretty good!

London had an average of 181 days and 9.4 appearances in 2007. In 2008 the days increased by 5.5% to 191, while appearances fell 3.2% to 9.1. In 2009 days fell back 4.7% to 182, while appearances increased 3.3%, back to 2007 numbers. Ok, that’s a little confusing…

The final assessment? Although the numbers are not entirely consistent, they do look promising. I would note that since 2000 there have been periods prior to Justice on Target where there has been a decline in the numbers from the previous year, although there has definitely been an overall increasing trend. It will be interesting to see if numbers continue to decline in 2010 and beyond for these three sites and if the sites added in 2009 have similar results.

I look forward to revisiting this topic with you next year for another look.