Ont. seeks to speed handling of some offences

Yorkregion.com
March 3, 2015

The province is looking for public input on a proposal aimed at streamlining the process of dealing with some traffic tickets and other Provincial Offences Act charges.

The current court process involves significant public resources, such as the time of a justice of the peace, a prosecutor and the enforcement officer who laid the charge.

It's also an inconvenience and expense for defendants, who incur expenses such as legal representation and taking time off work to attend court.

The Ministry of the Attorney General is proposing an online dispute system for offences that don't have a potential for jail time, such as those involving death or serious harm.

Under the proposed system, those accused of minor infractions could choose to pay online or initiate a dispute and enter information supporting their dispute online.

The ministry says the dispute would then go through a resolution process managed by "unbiased expert decision maker" without the need to go to court.

The ministry says that, not including parking tickets, about 1.65 million Provincial Offences Act charges were laid under provincial statutes and municipal bylaws last year.

And the cost of having police officers appear in Toronto courts where Provincial Offences Act matters are heard was over $5.5 million in 2014.