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N.L. government invests in 18 new Crown attorneys amid severe staffing crunch
Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Bernard Davis announced Wednesday afternoon that the provincial government is investing nearly $24 million to improve the province's justice system.... The investment comes after CBC News reported in numerous stories that Crown attorneys in the province were "suffocating" from overwhelming workloads and a critical staffing shortage.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-14
Newfoundland to add more Crown prosecutors
Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to hire more Crown lawyers following cries of a shortage of prosecutors in the province. The “multi-year investment” will include the hiring of 18 new Crown lawyers, according to a news release.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-13
Critical shortage of Crown attorneys has ‘gone on way too long’ and is hurting public safety
The Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, an umbrella group for thousands of Crown attorneys and government lawyers across the country is calling for a big boost in the number of provincial prosecutors in Newfoundland and Labrador.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-13
Most criminal cases in Ontario now ending before charges are tested at trial
More than half of the criminal charges laid by police in Ontario never make it to trial, according to data from Statistics Canada. The numbers paint a troubling picture of the province’s justice system. More judges, staff, prosecutors and courtrooms needed, says Crown attorneys’ association.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-12
Crown attorneys in N.L. are ‘crumbling’ under their workload, and it’s putting the public at risk
Shawn Patten, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown Attorneys Association, believes Happy Valley-Goose Bay report recommendations could make workload 'untenable'.... "And right now our office is doing its best to make public safety a priority. But we're crumbling. Our foundation is crumbling."
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-06
PC Justice Critic Calling for Review of Staffing Levels in Crown Attorney’s Office
The Newfoundland and Labrador Crown Attorneys Association says some prosecutors have up to 200 cases on their plate, and sometimes work until early morning preparing for a trial. PC Justice Critic Helen Conway Ottenheimer believes that Crown attorneys are too important a player in the justice system to allow shortcomings in staffing to impact their ability to always be at the top of their game.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-08-12
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Crown prosecutors sign new contract with N.B. government
13-04-2017
Chris Titus, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, pictured here with Treasury Board president Roger Melanson, left, and Attorney General Serge Rousselle, right, said earlier that pay was the main stumbling block to an agreement. (Government of New Brunswick)
New Brunswick Crown prosecutors have a new five-and-a-half-year contract that offers general economic increases of 4.8 per cent.
There is also an "adjustment" tied to the discontinuance of the retirement allowance benefit, according to the provincial government.
A news release didn't explain "general economic increases" and no other details were immediately available.
The government signed the collective agreement with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union representing 63 Crown prosecutors and family Crown counsel on Thursday.
No one from the union was available for comment Thursday.
New Brunswick prosecutors have been the lowest-paid in the country, the institute's vice-president, Steve Hindle, has said.
Job action was being "seriously contemplated" after 97 per cent of members rejected the government's previous offer of a one per cent wage increase for each of the next four years, Hindle said.
A tentative agreement was reached in January, after a meeting with a conciliation board.
The previous contract expired March 31, 2013.
