Summary
The British Columbia Justice Efficiencies Project, led by the Criminal Justice Reform Secretariat, is attempting to identify steps which could be taken provincially or at the national level to address perceived justice inefficiencies and to improve the overall performance of the criminal justice process in the province. The present review is only one part of the Justice Efficiencies Project. Based on local and international consultations as well as a survey of the literature, it attempts to identify promising practices and successful reform initiatives to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice process. The present report offers an overview of some of the key issues involved in improving the efficiency of criminal justice systems and the general approaches used in various jurisdictions to improve that efficiency.
Contents
1. Background. -- 1.1. Introduction—context and purpose of this review. -- 1.2. Inefficiencies. -- 1.3. Prevalence of the problem. -- 1.4. Solutions—performance enhancement measures. -- 1.5. The structure of this report. -- 2. Improved court administration. -- 2.1. Automation, scheduling and case tracking. -- 3. Improved case management. -- 3.1. Differentiated case management. -- 3.2. Judicial management/leadership. -- 3.3. Case preparation. -- 3.4. Role of prosecutors. -- 3.5. Collaboration between different stakeholders. -- 3.6. Technological support. -- 4. Improved criminal investigation and communications between the police and prosecutors. -- 4.1. Charge screening and approval process. -- 4.2. Other sources of complexity.
5. Summary proceedings. -- 6. Encouraging diversion and early disposition of cases. -- 6.1. Defence and availability of legal aid. -- 6.2. Improved early and ongoing communication between the defence and the prosecution. -- 6.3. Improving the use of prosecutorial discretion. -- 7. Focusing on the pre-trial process. -- 7.1. Improving the disclosure process. -- 7.2. Improving the plea negotiation process and increasing the likelihood of a guilty plea. -- 7.3. Preliminary inquiries and case conferences. -- 8. Focusing on the trial and the sentencing process. -- 8.1. Attendance of defendants and witnesses. -- 8.2. Problem solving courts. -- 8.3. Availability of pre-sentence reports. -- 9. Performance indicators and feedback loops. -- 10. Conclusion.