Courts of Justice and Ministry of Correctional
Services Statute Law Amendment Act, 1997
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill amends the Courts of Justice Act and the Ministry of Correctional Services Act.
Courts of Justice Act
The Bill requires the Chief Judge of the Provincial Division to establish a program of performance evaluation for provincial judges and requires the Judicial Council to review and approve the program. At present the Chief Judge and the Judicial Council have discretion whether to take those measures.
The Chief Judge is required to refer each performance evaluation of a provincial judge to a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly. The committee is required to review each performance evaluation and to recommend to the Attorney General that the judge be removed from office if it is of the opinion, based on the judge's evaluation, that the judge has failed to perform the duties of office.
Ministry of Correctional Services Act
If the Board of Parole conducts a hearing to determine whether an inmate is a suitable inmate to be granted parole, it is required to give at least 45 days written notice of the hearing to the victims of the offences of which the inmate has been convicted who have requested the notice. Those persons are allowed to make representations at the hearing, at which time the inmate and the inmate's representatives are not allowed to be present.
Bill 1301997
An Act to amend the Courts of Justice Act and
the Ministry of Correctional Services Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
COURTS OF JUSTICE ACT
1. (1) Subsection 51.8 (1) of the Courts of Justice Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 12, section 16, is repealed and the following substituted:
Removal for cause
(1) A provincial judge may be removed from office only if,
(a) a complaint about the judge has been made to the Judicial Council and the Judicial Council, after a hearing under section 51.6, recommends to the Attorney General that the judge be removed on the ground that the judge has become incapacitated or disabled from the due execution of office by reason of,
(i) inability, because of a disability, to perform the essential duties of office (if an order to accommodate the judge's needs would not remedy the inability, or could not be made because it would impose undue hardship on the person responsible for meeting those needs, or was made but did not remedy the inability),
(ii) conduct that is incompatible with the due execution of office, or
(iii) failure to perform the duties of office; or
(b) a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly has reviewed the judge's performance evaluation and, based on the evaluation, recommends to the Attorney General that the judge be removed on the ground that the judge has failed to perform the duties of office.
(2) Subsection 51.11 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 12, section 16, is repealed and the following substituted:
Performance evaluation
(1) The Chief Judge of the Provincial Division shall establish a program of performance evaluation for provincial judges.
Review by Council
(1.1) The Judicial Council shall review and approve the program within one year of the later of,
(a) the time that the Chief Judge establishes it; and
(b) the day on which this subsection comes into force.
Implementation
(1.2) The Chief Judge shall implement the program when the Judicial Council has reviewed and approved it.
(3) Subsections 51.11 (4), (5), (6) and (7) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 12, section 16, are repealed and the following substituted:
Scope of evaluation
(4) In a judge's performance evaluation, a decision made in a particular case may be considered.
Referral to standing committee
(5) The Chief Judge shall refer each performance evaluation of a judge to a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly.
Review by standing committee
(6) Beginning in January in every third year after 1997, the standing committee shall review the performance evaluations that it has received and shall recommend to the Attorney General that a judge should be removed from office if it is of the opinion, based on the judge's evaluation, that the judge has failed to perform the duties of office.
MINISTRY OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ACT
2. Section 35 of the Ministry of Correctional Services Act is amended by adding the following subsections:
Definition
(2) In this section,
"victim" means a victim within the meaning of the Victims' Bill of Rights, 1995.
Notice of hearing
(3) If the Board conducts a hearing to determine whether an inmate is a suitable inmate to be granted parole, the Board shall give at least 45 days written notice of the hearing to the victims of the offences of which the inmate has been convicted who have requested the Board to give them notice under this subsection.
Address for notice
(4) The Board shall give the notice by sending it by ordinary letter mail to the address the victim has set out in the request to the Board.
Right to make representations
(5) Each of the victims to whom the Board is required to give notice shall be entitled to attend the hearing and to make oral or written representations to the Board as to whether the Board should grant parole to the inmate.
Privacy
(6) The inmate and the inmate's representatives are not allowed to be present when a victim makes representations to the Board under subsection (5).
COMMENCEMENT AND SHORT TITLE
Commencement
3. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
4. The short title of this Act is the Courts of Justice and Ministry of Correctional Services Statute Law Amendment Act, 1997.