‘More cases will just be thrown out’: Toronto’s new courthouse hit by delays and staff shortages

The new $956-million courthouse on Armoury Street, near Dundas Street West and University Ave., just started hearing cases last month.

And already, staffing shortages have contributed to the closure of numerous trial courtrooms, according to figures provided to the Star by the court: 22 last week, and at least 12 this week.

Criminal cases are being adjourned due to the lack of courtrooms available to hear them — leaving cases at greater risk of eventually being tossed for violating a person’s constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time.

“It is not just accused persons who suffer from the corresponding delay when courts are closed,” Ontario Court Judge Brock Jones said in court on Thursday.

“Victims and witnesses cannot move on with their lives. Some cases are lost due to excessive delay, and those cases will never be heard on their merits.”

Jones made the remarks before delivering a judgment in a criminal harassment case that took nearly four years to complete for a variety of reasons.

He said the “burden on the staff is the greatest it has ever been,” and that they are often expected to work well past regular court hours.

“They need and deserve the level of resources and support required for them to do their jobs properly, and to reflect their professionalism and dedication to the administration of justice,” he said. “They are the backbone of this courthouse. We cannot function without them.”

The new courthouse will eventually merge the adult and youth criminal operations of six Ontario Court of Justice courthouses scattered across the city. What’s also concerning to those working inside the new building is that, so far, only three courts have transitioned and yet the delays in processing cases have already begun to accumulate.

Staff include clerks, court reporters, trial coordinators and judicial assistants.

OPSEU, which represents a number of the workers, said they are “extremely stressed and overworked.” Clerks are having to move from one courtroom to another juggling multiple cases with different judges.

“We know that many members have quit and we are in the process of determining these numbers,” the union told the Star.

The union said the average pay rate ranges from $23 to $29 an hour. OPSEU said the Ministry of the Attorney General has not listened to staff at the remaining courthouses who are raising cost-of-living concerns associated with having to soon work downtown.

“Many simply cannot afford to work downtown with additional costs including parking and commuting,” the union said in an email. “Those with children and elder care responsibilities can’t manage working and commuting longer hours and therefore there has been a surge in accommodation requests.”

The Ministry of the Attorney General refused to comment on reasons for the shortage, saying it does not share “confidential human resources information publicly.” Its court services division “continues to recruit and onboard new staff.”

Once all provincial courthouses have been merged into the new courthouse, the consolidation “will permit centralized criminal case management, a greater concentration of expertise, and the effective and efficient scheduling” of judges, lawyers, and staff, “supporting timely processing of criminal matters,” the ministry said.

Amid the staffing crunch, the court is also trying to implement a new digital information system which Jones said “shows great promise, but it also requires additional training and commitment from the court staff.”

The shortage is one of the factors “undermining timely justice” for victims and accused persons, said Daniel Brown, president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association.

He highlighted the system is already in crisis due to a chronic underfunding of legal aid by the provincial government, “and these court closures increase the risk that serious cases will be tossed because they have taken too long to come to trial.”

Defence lawyer Ayderus Alawi recently had a case set to be heard at 9 a.m., but it wasn’t reached until 9:40, and then couldn’t begin anyway because another judge was coming in to deal with a different case at 10. And so Alawi’s case was adjourned.

“Because of the staff shortage, they had to double up the number of judges in one courtroom,” he told the Star. “But for the staff shortages, they could have accommodated us. But both judges had to essentially use the same two staff, the one clerk and the one court reporter.”

It was the second week in a row for Alawi where one of his cases was punted due to staff shortages. He said the delays don’t “allow for any sort of finality, either for accused persons or complainants.” The problem comes as the Ontario Court of Justice was already dealing with an unprecedented backlog of criminal cases, exacerbated by the pandemic.

Alawi said he’s worried the problem is only about to get worse, as three more courthouses are about to close. The criminal caseload at the 1000 Finch Ave. W. courthouse will transition to the new courthouse on Monday, followed by Scarborough and Old City Hall next month. OPSEU said the majority of workers at the Scarborough courthouse are looking for work elsewhere.

Crown attorney Betty Vavougios, who heads the Ontario Crown Attorneys Association, said the shortages are another reason why the government should hit pause on completing the transition to the new building and reassess its purpose. The association has long argued that the new courthouse poses safety and access to justice concerns, requiring people to travel longer distances to attend court.

Vavougios argued that the ministry has known for years that staffing would be an issue once the new courthouse opened, as personnel in the other courthouses raised concerns about having to go to work downtown.

“More cases will just be thrown out. It’s sad, and it was foreseeable,” she said.

In his remarks in court, Jones highlighted the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark ruling, R v. Jordan, which set strict timelines for bringing criminal cases to trial. He said the decision imposed an obligation on all criminal justice system participants to alleviate court delays.

“Something must be done to demonstrate a commitment to not just the letter, but the very heart and soul of the Jordan decision in order for this courthouse to be able to have all cases heard within a reasonable period of time,” Jones said.