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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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Prosecutors Insulted by Government Salary Offer
20-02-2020
Criminal and penal prosecutors are pissed off. While an independent committee recommended an upgrade of their salary conditions by almost 20%, the government only plans to give them 10% over four years.
The independent committee made up of Mr. Guy Lemay, Yves Morin and Clément D'Astous, a former deputy minister, submitted its report last fall. D'Astous made a different recommendation from the two lawyers, which the government now endorses.
“We are disappointed and dissatisfied. I am surprised that the government does not respect the outcome of this independent process put in place by the National Assembly, which should adopt the committee's recommendations," said the President of the Association of Prosecutors of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (APPCP), Mr. Guillaume Michaud.
It should be noted, however, that the government offers a larger increase to prosecutors than to other employees in the public and parapublic sector. The government is offering them a 7% increase over five years.
But for Mr. Michaud, you shouldn't mix apples with oranges. If prosecutors submit to the independent committee's decisions, the government should do the same, he believes. The existence of this committee also prevents prosecutors from exercising the right to strike.
The increase proposed by the committee was 3.5% for each of the four years concerned, in addition to indexation to annual inflation of up to 1.75%, for a maximum total of 19.25%. This may seem considerable to ordinary people, but the salary increase is part of a desire to catch up with prosecutors from other Canadian provinces.
"It's always discouraging when you have news like that. We send a signal to the prosecutors saying: "We have a gap with the other provinces, a historical inequity, and we are not closing it." I can't speak for every attorney about what they will do (after the adoption of the salary proposals). But are they disappointed? Yes. "
This decision to offer only 10% over four years could help discourage young people to join the DCPP, according to the President of the APPCP.
“We are in competition with the big law firms, which give high salaries. If the wages to which prosecutors are entitled according to the independent committee are not given, the new lawyers could choose to go elsewhere, question wages and working conditions.
The Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, which brings together prosecutors from across the country, also expressed dissatisfaction to Minister of Justice Sonia LeBel.
"Your announcement is an affront to the constitutional right of prosecutors to have a fair and transparent mechanism for determining their remuneration," wrote Association President Rick Woodburn. The Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association also wrote to Minister LeBel to express their dissatisfaction.
For Guillaume Michaud, it is still too early to say if the prosecutors will adopt certain means of pressure to make their discontent heard, but everything is on the table.
According to the latest agreement, an attorney is paid from $59,433 to $119,815, according to his experience.
The creation of the independent compensation committee for prosecutors had been unanimously approved by the National Assembly in 2016.
http://www.droit-inc.com/article26278-Les-procureurs-insultes-par-l-offre-salariale-du-gouvernement
