Manitoba courts take ‘unprecedented step’ in coronavirus efforts

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This article was published 17/03/2020 (1781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, Manitoba’s three top judges said Tuesday, as they outlined court efforts to address the growing coronavirus pandemic.

“We have tried to balance what we have to do with the goals of stemming this rising menace we are all trying to face,” Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Glenn Joyal said at a hastily-convened news conference at the Winnipeg Law Courts.

The measures effectively amount to adjourning most out-of-custody matters at least a month, prioritizing which in-custody cases should be heard and when, and taking every step to reduce person-to-person contact.

“We are well-aware we have to balance our institutional obligations with the broader public health concerns,” said Manitoba Court of Appeal Chief Justice Richard Chartier.

For the Court of Appeal, that means all non-urgent custody matters will either be suspended or heard by way of paper appeal or teleconference.

“I know this is an unprecedented step,” Chartier said. “We will anticipate that a number of our appeals will proceed in one of those two fashions.”

In Court of Queen’s Bench, all jury trials have been suspended, and all judge-alone trials have been adjourned a month from their original sitting date.

“We are keeping all of those matters on a short leash, as it were, and if necessary, as is probable that they have to be put over again, we will do that while keeping a close watch on what is going on,” Joyal said.

Non-jury criminal trials where an accused is in custody will “likely” proceed, but with a new requirement trial judges and counsel discuss whether the case is urgent or can be tried at a later date, Joyal said.

“In some cases, the person in custody may be in custody on other charges that don’t relate to the prosecution or trial that is proceeding,” Joyal said. “If that is the case, what was an urgent in-custody trial may be degraded somewhat in urgency.

“That’s not to say that we’re happy somebody is left in custody without closure, but the custody state may not be related to the charges that otherwise would proceed to trial.”

In provincial court, the busiest court branch, out-of-custody appearances have been cancelled until May 1, as have all circuit court hearings throughout the province.

In-custody matters, including bails, sentencings, and trials will continue to be heard at the province’s six major court centres, with a focus on teleconferencing and appearances by video, where available.

“We are living in an unbelievable period of time dealing with these issues,” said provincial court Chief Judge Margaret Wiebe. “In this situation, communication and co-operation between all the players in the system is absolutely key. The situation is changing rapidly and we expect that will remain the case moving forward.”

Meanwhile, adjourning cases en masse will create an inevitable bottleneck that will only get larger the longer the coronavirus pandemic endures.

“That is a concern,” Wiebe said. “It is going to take a lot of effort to prioritize the matters that have to be heard… (It is) going to slow down matters potentially for several months to come and we are going to have to figure out how to deal with that.”

In northern remote centres, where access to timely court proceedings are already an issue, things will get only slower, Wiebe conceded.

“Once things return to a more regular situation, we will work very hard to do what we can to get back in there. Perhaps adding special sittings and extra sittings where we can and where we have the capacity to deal with these matters as quickly as we can,” Wiebe said.

These adjustments could conceivably open the court up to challenges for delay. Under the Supreme Court’s Jordan decision, courts are expected to meet strict timelines in bringing criminal trials to completion.

The court’s focus now is on public health, not a legal test, Joyal said.

“We have every confidence that where crisis situations have taken place… We have to balance that concern with… trying to level the curve to prevent the spread of something that could get much more serious.”

For updates on how Manitoba courts are responding to the pandemic, visit manitobacourts.mb.ca or @MBCourts on Twitter.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca