Justice Efficiencies and
Access to the Justice System
Backgrounder: The Steering Committee on Justice Efficiencies and Access to the Justice System
With cases that are increasingly complex and prosecutions ever more sophisticated, Canada’s criminal justice system faces new challenges to ensure it remains fair, efficient and responsive to Canadians.
In response, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice agreed, at their Fall 2003 meeting, that three of the major participants in the justice system – governments, judges and the private bar – should work together to recommend solutions to problems relating to the efficient and effective operation of the system, without compromising its fundamental values. The Steering Committee on Justice Efficiencies and Access to the Justice System was specifically created to engage in this work.
The Steering Committee is composed of six Deputy Ministers of Justice from the federal and provincial levels, six representatives of the Judiciary and three members of the private bar, for a total of 15 members.
To guide its overall work, the Steering Committee agreed on a set of key objectives, which includes:
- Identifying practical and effective solutions that can be implemented in a timely manner;
- Building on – rather than repeating – work already being done to address specific justice efficiency issues; and
- Ensuring that consultations with other justice system stakeholders take place as appropriate
To advance its work, the Steering Committee established three sub-committees that will each focus on a high-priority area:
- Mega-trials
- Early case consideration
- Management of cases going to trial
The Steering Committee is not a decision-making body. Rather, it is a group of experts intimately involved in the criminal justice system. The group, which began its work in December of 2003, will provide updates, generate recommendations and then leave it to federal, provincial and territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice to determine priorities and make decisions.
This initiative demonstrates that independent institutions involved in the justice system can work together on the basis of shared values and in the public interest to find practical solutions to shared problems.
