What to do when courts misbehave?

Good Day Folks:

Assuming the facts as stated in the article are accurate, the actions of the court are unconscionable! Not providing Ms Quinn with a written apology further exacerbates the situation. How many times have we read about judges at time of sentencing attempt to justify their decision(s) with the words, "The integrity of the court is paramount." Well .....?

It is our understanding buried somewhere within the Criminal Code is a provision allowing a judge to dismiss a case if in their opinion it has taken far too long to bring it to trial on the basis the accused's constitutional right to a fair, speedy due process of law has been violated. Examples, can be found in Canadian jurisprudence.

Then we are told both the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice speak highly of their reserve judgment tracking systems yet refuse to answer The Star reporter's questions. Why not implement a system of wait times for reserved decisions based on type of case. Exceed them and the Plaintiff/Defendant gets the relief they are seeking. It's too late for Ms Quinn but it would certainly work for court costs.

Ms Quinn could complain to the Canadian Judicial Council but is it much better? In July of 2010 Alex Chapman filed a complaint against Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Douglas Lori Douglas with the CJC in the now infamous Douglas-King-Chapman sexcapade.

To date an independent third-party lawyer was appointed to review the allegations and make recommendations. Earlier this year it was announced a public inquiry would be held followed a few months later by a Press Release indentifying the 5-member panel and prosecuting attorney. Since then there has been nothing so after all this time we still don't know the inquiry's mandate, as well as, its location, dates and times.

Or what about the case of Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Dewar?At a February 18, 2011 sentencing of a rapist (the case has subsequently been appealed) he made comments suggesting, for example, the victim was partially responsible her manner of dress cited as a contributing factor. The resulting firestorm lead to a barrage of complaints before the CJC. There's plenty of black print because on March 3 of this year the Winnipeg Free Press published the entire 88-page transcript of Justice Dewar's decision.

The CJC's February 25, 2011 Press Release stating it was reviewing the complaints received in the Dewar case went on to say, "..... overall 80% of complaints are completed by the Council within 3 months, and 95% within 6 months." That has clearly not happened in both these instances.

The financial impact for Justices Douglas and Dewar has been negligible if at all. Several months ago Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal went public to tell us Lori Douglas had been assigned unspecified administrative duties while her matter was being resolved. No mention was made of a reduction in the $254,600 salary or benefits while Justice Dewar would not preside over cases of a sexual nature - the equivalent of removing a police officer from the street and giving them a desk job at same pay.

And for the victims? You're on your own which begs the question if you're not satisfied/disagree with a Council ruling then what? Can a person appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada? Anyone know?

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

ttyler@thestar.ca
info@cjc-ccm.gc.ca
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Toronto woman waiting since last century for judge’s decision in child custody case
Christine Quinn, who has been waiting nearly 12 years for a court ruling in her family law case, is mad at the system and very sad at the outcome. The judge retired six years ago. (Vince Talotta/Toronto Star)

Tracey Tyler
Legal Affairs Reporter
Monday, October 17, 2011

Christine Quinn fought a long, demanding legal battle over custody and access to her 5-year-old daughter.

But when she walked out of the Jarvis St. courthouse for the final time, she was optimistic about their future.

Justice Douglas Bean had reserved his decision. That was in 1999.

Twelve years later, Quinn says she still hasn’t seen it.

The judgment, she said, was never released. Prompted by questions from the Star, the Ontario Court of Justice conducted a search of its files and confirmed its research “suggests/indicates the reserve judgment was not released.”

Bean retired from the court in 2005, although he continued to work part-time until 2010.

Quinn, 61, a secretary, said the undelivered decision “was always at the back of my mind.” Approximately eight years after the decision was reserved, she reluctantly agreed to a custody arrangement that had her daughter go to live with her father.

“There was stress, naturally,” she said, “but it was something that I lived with.”

Jane Warwick, executive assistant to Ontario Court Chief Justice Annemarie Bonkalo said both sides in the case were before that court and the Superior Court of Justice after Bean reserved his judgment and “various issues concerning this matter were decided.”

Quinn said those court appearances involved Christmas access, a request from her spouse to take the child to Florida, the couple’s divorce and, years later, the arrangement that saw their daughter switch homes.

As for why the trial judgment was never released, the court “has no further information,” Warwick said.

Through his spouse, Annette Snowdon, Bean told The Star he did not wish to comment.

Experts say this case and two others in which decisions were delayed for years is why Ontario needs a better system for tracking rulings and wait times.

The Ontario government began tracking wait times for surgeries and diagnostic procedures in 2003 as part of what it called its “commitment to accountability” in delivering timely health services. Many argue those waiting for often life-altering court decisions deserve the same.

“There’s no doubt about it,” said Victoria Starr, president of Ontario’s Family Lawyers Association, who represented Quinn at the trial. “It is important that we be able to track these things and . . . have very clear expectations about what is not an acceptable (wait) time.”

Starr said she contacted the court to ask about Bean’s decision, but had no response.

“It’s just a resource question, really,” said James Stribopoulos, a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. “In the absence of (an effective tracking) procedure, judgments will fall through the cracks because judges are busy and have heavy workloads and I’m quite sympathetic to them.”

The Canadian Judicial Council’s ethical principles for judges say judgments should ideally be delivered within six months and Ontario’s Courts of Justice Act suggests anything longer may require the granting of a time extension from a chief justice.

In early August, the Star reported that Toronto graphic artist Jacqueline Spicer had waited 29 months for a ruling on the awarding of legal costs in her child-support case. Justice Susanne Goodman of the Superior Court of Justice released the decision the day after the Star’s story.

A week earlier, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial in a criminal case involving guns and allegations of racial profiling after finding that Goodman’s 25-month delay in getting out her decision had compromised the integrity of her reasons for judgment.

While the subject of the dispute in Quinn’s case was child custody, the judgment has been delayed so long that her daughter, now 18, is no longer recognized under the law as a child.

Quinn had been awarded interim custody of her daughter before the trial.

But when the child turned 13, she wanted to live with her father.

Quinn said that without a final judgment from Bean, she felt she didn’t have much in the way of ammunition to fight that proposal. She didn’t have the money for another long court battle and she didn’t want to put her daughter through that, anyway.

Given that she had been awarded interim custody, Quinn felt she had reason to hope Bean’s final decision would affirm her as the custodial parent.

For much of the past six years, she’s seen little of her daughter, although the two have recently reconnected.

“For a long time, this whole situation took a lot of the joy out of my life,” Quinn said. “The experience has been heartbreaking for me and we’ve both lost out having each other in our lives.”

The Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice both speak highly of their systems for tracking reserve judgments, although the Ontario Court tracks only family law cases, a process that began in 2009.

But when the Star asked each court if they could describe how their tracking systems work and how many decisions have been on hold for more than six months, those questions were rebuffed.

Other delayed rulings

• 3 years. Ontario Superior Court Justice Ed Then’s ruling from a judicial inquiry into whether he had been misled about journalist Stevie Cameron’s role in the RCMP’s Airbus investigation. Testimony completed July 2004. Then released decision July 2007

• 29 months. Ontario Superior Court Justice Susanne Goodman’s ruling on legal costs in Toronto graphic artist Jacqueline Spicer’s child-support cases. Submissions made February 2009. Decision August 2011.

• 25 months. Goodman acquits Kamar Cunningham of weapons offences in April 2009. Her reasons for judgment were released May 2011.

• 1 year. Supreme Court of Canada ruling on legality of private health insurance in Quebec. Arguments heard June 2004. Decision released June 2005.

• 11 months. Ontario Superior Court ruling on challenge to prostitution laws, launched by dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford and two other sex workers. Arguments completed Oct. 26, 2009. Justice Susan Himel’s decision released Sept. 28, 2010.

ttyler@thestar.ca