Canada, New rules expected to speed up mega-trials

OFF THE WIRE
By Janice Tibbetts, Postmedia News

New rules expected to speed up mega-trials
Long, pricey B.C. cases help spur legislation
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They're the trials that go on for months, sometimes years: biker-gang trials, the Air India bombing case, the Willie Pickton serial-murder trial, and increasingly, routine murder and sex-assault trials.

With the justice system becoming more complex and sophisticated, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson will announce legislation today designed to reduce drawn-out "mega-trials" that he has said are consuming too much money and court time and "undermining public confidence in the law."

In B.C., the cost of the trial in which former government insiders Dave Basi and Bobby Virk were convicted of selling information about the sale of BC Rail, is estimated at $18 million, including $6 million in the defence's legal costs.

The Robert (Willie) Pickton serial-murder trial cost $46 million, which is dwarfed by the cost of excavating the Pickton farm and sifting the soil for evidence: $122.6 million.

The Air India bombing trial is estimated to have cost $58 million, of which the federal government paid $22 million.

The new federal legislation, promised in the throne speech last March, will be tabled in the House of Commons in response to several reports in recent years that have decried the fact that many criminal trials have taken on a life of their own.

The trend is attributed to more expansive and complex evidence, increased use of expert testimony, more aggressive courtroom conduct and the proliferation of preliminary applications involving admissibility of evidence, disclosure or Charter of Rights challenges.

Nicholson, in an August speech to the Canadian Bar Association, outlined many problems arising from mega-trials, including the risk of losing jurors, and even judges, and causing a mistrial. They can also infringe on a defendant's right to a speedy trial, leading to a stay of proceedings.

"Far from getting better, the problem is getting worse," he told the lawyers. "Delays in bringing defendants to trial, combined with long, complex and sometimes fruitless prosecutions, have contributed to undermining public confidence in the law."

With research by Ulla Visscher, Pacific Newspaper Group editorial library

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