One thing that both the prosecution and the defence seem to agree on is that the federal government’s push to cut preliminary inquiries in most criminal cases will not solve the long-standing problem of delays in the criminal justice system. Numerous changes are being proposed to legislation introduced earlier this year by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to revamp the justice system. The government has proposed limiting preliminary inquiries only to cases where the maximum term of imprisonment is life, such as murder. The defence had reportedly used peremptory challenges to keep anyone who appeared Indigenous off the jury. “Government neglect and the use of peremptory challenges has had a corrosive impact on efforts to encourage Indigenous people to volunteer as jurors,” they said in their brief.

Source: thestar October 01, 2018 09:00 UTC