SERVICES REVIEW DEPARTMENTS

Transcription

1 DATE: February 9, 2012 SERVICES REVIEW DEPARTMENTS Provincial Offences Administration and Legal Department SERVICES Administrative Services for the Ontario Court of Justice (POA Administration) Prosecution of POA Part 1 offences, (Legal Department) CLASSIFICATION X Mandatory Established Discretionary Other: RATIONALE In 1999, The District Municipality of Muskoka ( District of Muskoka ) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU ) with Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Attorney General ( MAG ) to transfer responsibility of the Ontario Court of Justice Provincial Offences to The District Municipality of Muskoka. Under the MOU The District Municipality of Muskoka is responsible for the administration of all offences under the Ontario Court of Justice Provincial Offences division and prosecution of Part 1 charges under the Act. In carrying out these functions, the phrase Not only must justice be done, it must be seen to be done has application and meaning. BACKGROUND AND BASIS Legislation/Regulation Policy Service Description Memorandum of Understanding and corresponding Local Side Agreement as between MAG and The District Municipality of Muskoka Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.p.33 Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.c.43 Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.m.56 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, S.O. 2005, CHAPTER 11 Rules of Professional Conduct (Law Society of Upper Canada) District of Muskoka Code of Ethics PP:00 Revised November 19, 2001 Courts Administration (POA Administration) Perform courts administration and court support functions including the functions of Clerk of the Court for proceedings commenced under Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Provincial Offences Act carried out by the Attorney General prior to the transfer agreement. Create Court Master Plan Schedule court sessions for the calendar year, acquire Judicial Resources through the Senior Regional Justice of the Peace and the Chief Judges Office. Negotiate and coordinate facility requirements (Bracebridge and Huntsville court houses) for court proceedings ensuring availability of all prosecution and enforcement agencies. Order and Issue Charge Documents Oversee the creation of Part 1 ticket books to meet local enforcement needs and locally established court procedures, ensuring compliance with all regulations and statutes. Issue ticket books to enforcement agencies.

2 Court Processing Accept and process charges in the Integrated Court Offences Network and reject charges that fail to meet statutory requirements. Trial Processing Accept Notices of Intention to Appear from defendants in accordance with legislative requirements. Issue Notices of Trial and serve Notice of Summons to appear on defendants, prosecution agencies and enforcement officers. Accessibility Standards Schedule interpreters as required under section 84 of the Provincial Offences Act. Ensure that accessibility standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act are met. Court Proceedings Prepare and circulate court dockets, open all courts, arraign defendants, record dispositions/pleas/adjournment, and swear in witnesses, defendants and interpreters. Mark and receive exhibits for trial, operate electronic monitoring equipment to record court proceedings, and keep log of proceedings. Post Court Functions Update decisions of the Court in ICON (Integrated Court Offences Network) in order to create an electronic court record of the court orders, transfer conviction information to the Ministry of Transportation, and create a financial record for convicted cases or schedule future court dates as required. Enforcement Appeals Send all fines in default to the Defaulted Fine Control Centre and under section 46 of the Highway Traffic Act, authorize suspension of the drivers licence for unpaid fines. In addition all fines in default are sent to an external collection agency. Assess criteria under Sections 11 and 19 of the Provincial Offences Act for re opening of defendants convictions. Send cases not meeting the necessary re opening criteria to Superior Court to be filed as an appeal under Section 135 of the Provincial Offences Act. Coordinate with the Superior Court under Municipal Provincial policies with the appeal process. Prosecution Services (Legal Department) Pursuant to the MOU with MAG, The District of Muskoka conducts prosecutions and appeals in the Ontario Court of Justice for Part 1 Provincial Offences Act matters under the jurisdiction of The District of Muskoka. The Maximum fine for a Part 1 Offence is $ and there is no risk of imprisonment.

3 Prosecution Standards Under the MOU, The District of Muskoka is required to ensure that prosecutions are conducted in a manner consistent with the following principles: - prosecutorial independence; - fairness and impartiality; - competence and integrity; and - timeliness of prosecutions. Under the MOU, The District of Muskoka must ensure that any prosecutors who are not lawyers are supervised by or report to a lawyer. Reporting relationships for all prosecutors must be structured to ensure that the prosecutors exercise of discretion is not influenced by any person or body, including: Legislation - members of council; - policing and other enforcement agencies; and - Municipal finance officers. A strict separation between POA Prosecutions and POA Administration is to be maintained at all times. The District of Muskoka prosecutes Part 1 charges laid under, amongst others, the following statutes: the Highway Traffic Act, Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, Liquor License Act, Off Road Vehicles Act, Motorized Snow Vehicles Act, Trespass to Property Act and the Canada Shipping Act. Prosecutors require a thorough working knowledge of the Provincial Offences Act, Evidence Act, Contraventions Act (Canada) and common law. POA Prosecutions deal with all claims alleging a breach under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as they relate to a Part 1 Provincial Offence Act matter. Case File Management Prosecution services include the following duties: screening and evaluating charges and officer briefs, reviewing statements from and interviewing witnesses, issuing disclosure to defendants and agents, requesting subpoenas for witnesses, coordinating conviction records, court docket preparation, and preparation of motion materials. Prosecutors attend all POA Part 1 first attendance courts, trials courts and appeal courts before the Ontario Court of Justice. Prosecutors also participate in out of court resolution discussions. POA Prosecutions respond to queries and liaises with enforcement agencies, defence agents and counsel, the local Crown Attorney s office, MAG, court administration staff, defendants, civilian and expert witnesses and various justice partners. Training In recent years, POA Prosecutions has facilitated and participated in several educational training programs in cooperation with the local OPP and local Part 3 prosecutor to share knowledge of caselaw developments and advocacy skills, namely lunch and learn sessions and mock trial courts.

4 Reporting Requirements As is required under the MOU, POA Prosecutions provides both incident driven and annual reports to the local Crown Attorney and MAG regarding matters that raise substantive legal issues, constitutional issues or issues where there could be a substantial public interest in the outcome of a particular matter. As part of these reporting requirements, POA Prosecutions manages and maintains several reporting protocols related to case outcomes, appeals, conflicts of interest and motions brought under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Internal Relationships (Corporate & Department) Commissioner of Finance and Corporate Services, District Solicitor, and reporting functions to CES and District Council. The entire justice process shall operate independently and free from political intervention. POA administration and POA prosecutions shall operate independently from all other departments and each other. In addition the separation of the prosecutorial function and police function shall, at all times be observed, respected and assured. EXTERNAL RELATED SERVICE OR RELATIONSHIP Similar Area Service X No Yes Description of Area The boundaries of the Court Service Area, which are set out in the map attached to Schedule 5 Service of the MOU and includes the following municipalities: The District Municipality of Muskoka Town of Bracebridge Town of Gravenhurst Town of Huntsville Township of Georgian Bay Township of Muskoka Lakes Township of Lake of Bays External Relationships MAG Local Crown Attorney s Office Ontario Superior Court of Justice Chief Judges Office Office of the Senior Regional Justice of the Peace Ontario Provincial Police ( Huntsville, Bracebridge, Central Traffic Unit) Ministry of Labour Ministry of Transportation Ministry of Natural Resources Municipal Enforcement Officers Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission Tarion Warranty Corporation (Ontario New Home Warranty) Provincial Prosecutors Ministry of Finance Collection Agencies Defaulted Fines Control Centre Law Society of Upper Canada Ontario Provincial Prosecutors Association Municipal Court Managers Association of Ontario Other BUDGET OVERVIEW

5 Expenditure Type Direct Contract Transfer to Others X Other: Personnel 6.1 FTEs Other Staffing 1 Capital Budget 0 Operating Budget (1,650,000) Expenditure Amount 759,295 Funding/Revenue (872,705) Contribution to 18,000 Reserve/Financing Other 0 OPTIONS FOR COST SAVINGS Options Description Impacts Electronic form management for Court Would require agreements with Management processes and prosecution external enforcement agencies. disclosure. Protection of privacy issues would need to be addressed. STANDING COMMITTEE Discussion Points To proceed with streamlining initiatives through the Ministry of Attorney General and with the electronic form management Recommendation to Steering Committee none STEERING COMMITTEE Discussion Points Recommendation to Council COUNCIL Decision