Challenges Faced by Criminal Courts in Canada Today

The criminal justice system faces significant challenges, from growing demands for its services to reduced availability of resources to do the work. The system requires both increased public confidence and innovative ways of reducing costs in order more effectively to address these challenges.

For many members of the public, some court procedures and decisions do not make sense. For some people, their lack of understanding has led them to conclude that the courts are unfair. Some feel the courts aren't doing their job of upholding justice and protecting the public. The inability of members of the public to understand the court system and decisions made by the courts has undermined confidence in the criminal justice system as a whole. Reduced public confidence has added to the pressures on the courts to ensure both that justice is done and that justice is seen to be done by members of the general public.

Some lawyers and judges fear that the effectiveness, efficiency and fairness as well as public confidence in our criminal courts will be challenged increasingly:

• by the growing diversity of our communities in terms of values, cultures and languages;
• by the unmanageable caseloads with which many courts are now burdened;
• by cost cutting measures which limit the resources available to the courts;
• by selective media reporting of criminal cases, and
• by the increasing numbers of people appearing in court without representation, largely as a result of cuts to the legal aid system.