Ontario failing to release reports of complaints against judges
The Ministry of the Attorney General says it is “in the process of reviewing” annual reports going back to 2014 that summarize complaints against judges and justices of the peace.
thestar.com
By Jacques Gallant
Jan. 23, 2017
The provincial government is failing to provide the public with up-to-date information on complaints filed against provincial court judges and justices of the peace.
It’s an issue that has been raised before, and goes against the government’s promise of transparency, critics say.
“The price of judicial independence demands public knowledge of all complaints and how they are dealt with. Public confidence will grow and improvements can be made,” said Criminal Lawyers’ Association president Anthony Moustacalis.
“Time is the enemy of informed debate. Ideally, quarterly reports should be the goal so people can see the system is working with dispatch, efficiency and fairness.”
Summaries of complaints are contained in annual reports from the Justices of the Peace Review Council (JPRC) and the Ontario Judicial Council, which handles complaints against provincial court judges.
The slow pace at getting the reports out to the public was first reported by the Star in 2014, when the most recent report available online relating to justices of the peace was from 2010.
As of now, the JPRC has not posted its annual reports from 2014 or 2015, while the judicial council has not posted its 2014-2015 or 2015-2016 annual reports.
Marilyn King, who is the registrar for both bodies, told the Star that legislation requires the reports be tabled in the legislature by the attorney general before they can be distributed or uploaded to the councils’ websites.
“The councils do report on an annual basis to the attorney general,” she said. “An annual report is prepared each year after the reporting period concludes. Preparing an annual report includes writing, review for accuracy, translation, and the production and printing process.”
She said the JPRC’s 2014 report was sent to the ministry on Nov. 19, 2015, while the 2015 report was sent on Sept. 30, 2016.
She said the judicial council’s 2014-2015 report was sent on Feb. 4, 2016. The 2015-2016 report was sent on Dec. 16, 2016, after the fall legislative session had already ended.
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the government is currently “in the process of reviewing” the reports.
“The reports will be tabled in the legislature once the house resumes for the next session,” said spokesman Philip Klassen.
The vast majority of complaints against provincial judges and justices of the peace are never forwarded to a discipline panel, which holds its hearings in public and has the power to suspend a judge or JP or recommend to the attorney general that they be removed from office.
The annual reports are therefore the only way the public is able to determine how most complaints against these judicial officials are dealt with in secret.
The summaries contain information about each complaint - without naming the official - as well as the disposition in each case, which can include providing advice on improvement to the judge or JP.
The need to disclose the reports promptly should be addressed in the legislation, said University of Ottawa law professor Adam Dodek, who suggested that they be released within four months after the reporting year has ended.
James Morton, former counsel to the Association of Justices of the Peace of Ontario, said it would appear it’s simply not a priority to release the reports more promptly.
“They just fall to the bottom of the pile and it gets done when it gets done,” he told the Star.
“I can’t see any reason, nefarious or otherwise, why they wouldn’t be released . . . There are very few complaints, to be honest, and the vast majority of them are unfounded, so it shows the public that the bench is actually a pretty good solid bench and it also shows that where there are problems they are dealt with,” Morton said, speaking specifically about the JPRC reports.
