Bill 178, Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act, 2006

Versions

Bill 178 2006

An Act to amend the Courts of Justice Act with respect to truth and transparency in the justice system

Note: This Act amends the Courts of Justice Act. For the legislative history of the Act, see Public Statutes - Detailed Legislative History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection 79.3 (2) of the Courts of Justice Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Contents of report

(2) The annual report shall provide information about progress in meeting the goals set out in section 71 and shall include, with respect to the fiscal year,

(a) the number of charges for an indictable offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for five years or a more severe punishment and that involves the use or attempted use of a firearm or violence against another person;

(b) the average, median, and 90th percentile wait times in criminal and civil proceedings in which there is a trial, indicating,

(i) the time from the commencement of the proceeding to the commencement of the trial,

(ii) the time from the commencement of the trial to the time of the conclusion of the proceeding, and

(iii) the time from the commencement to the conclusion of the proceeding;

(d) the number of orders for bail that the Crown has appealed;

(e) the number of bail violations;

(f) the number of bail violations for which sureties have been collected and for which sureties have not been collected;

(g) the total amount of sureties with respect to bail violations, indicating the amount of the sureties that have been collected and the amount of the sureties that are outstanding;

(h) the number of adjournments ordered in matters under the Criminal Code (Canada) and the Provincial Offences Act, indicating in each case,

(i) the court location,

(ii) whether the adjournment was ordered before or after trial of the matter, and

(iii) whether the adjournment was requested by the Crown or by the defence or ordered on the judge's own initiative;

(i) the number of court date cancellations and the number of such cancellations for each court location;

(j) the number of charges for an offence described in clause (a) or a violation of bail or probation orders that have been dropped as a result of plea bargaining;

(k) the number of criminal proceedings in which a court awarded a credit to the accused for time spent in custody before a conviction and the number of days of such credits awarded, indicating in the case of each proceeding the proportion of the credit to the number of days of imprisonment constituting the sentence; and

(l) the number of convictions for criminal offences committed by persons who are on bail, on probation or on conditional release, or who are or could be made subject to a criminal deportation order.

Availability of report

(2.1) The Attorney General shall make the annual report available to the public in English and French.

Commencement

2. (1) This section and section 3 come into force on the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

(2) Section 1 comes into force on the later of the day this Act receives Royal Assent and the day that section 79.3 of the Courts of Justice Act comes into force.

Short title

3. The short title of this Act is the Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act, 2006.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends section 79.3 of the Courts of Justice Act to provide that the annual report of the Attorney General on the administration of the courts must include certain specified information, for example, information with respect to the number of charges for offences involving the use of firearms or violence, wait times for a trial in criminal and civil proceedings, bail violations, adjournments ordered in matters under the Criminal Code (Canada) and the Provincial Offences Act and credits awarded for time spent in custody before a conviction.