(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
May 24, 2000)
Crime has no
consequences in B.C.
By Leo Knight
THE
discussion over the past two weeks about our troubled justice
system has generated much response from readers.
Many
wanted to share their experiences while others seemed
unbelieving, somehow choosing to swallow the stuff and nonsense
put out by politicians who have failed utterly in their duty as
a government to protect its citizens.
In
looking at the system itself, we eliminate the typical knee-jerk
response to attack an individual judge or prosecutor. This, of
course, does not mean that some judges' decisions are not
puzzling or in some cases, outrageous. But, for the most part
the judges' hands are tied.
I'll
give you an example.
It
used to be that the judges in assessing a fine for a particular
offence would assign what is called "default" time.
The sentence would be "a fine of $1,000 in default, 10 days
in jail."
If
the fine wasn't paid in the prescribed time, a warrant of
committal would be issued by the sentencing judge ensuring the
transgressor would then be arrested and taken to jail for the 10
days "default" time.
This
doesn't happen any more. The judges no longer assign
"default" time, but rather the court clerk, working
off a chart of instruction issued by the attorney general's
office, does it.
Unfortunately,
with no ability to get a person convicted back in front of a
judge to enforce fines, the system now simply refers the matter
to a collection agency, if anything is done at all.
The result: nothing happens to an individual who is fined by the court and doesn't pay.
So,
as discussed last week, the judge cannot assign jail time
because there's simply no room to put anyone within the jammed
up B.C. corrections system. Typically then, a conditional
sentence, suspended sentence, discharge, fine or probation are
the only options left for a provincial court judge to consider.
If
a fine is given, there's no method of enforcement to ensure the
penalty is paid. A conditional sentence is little more than a
term of probation. Ditto, a suspended sentence.
And
probation is no consequence at all. If the person breaches the
probation and actually gets before a judge we're back to square
one. That is, assuming the charge is approved by the Crown,
which has the final say in whether any charge is laid.
This,
if you'll allow me to digress, is another part of the problem.
B.C. is the only jurisdiction in Canada where the police do not
lay criminal charges based on their investigation and
discretion.
In
this province, police complete their investigation and recommend
charges. The sole discretion of whether to lay a charge is left
in the hands of a Crown Counsel.
Ergo,
an employee of the attorney general, not an independent police
officer, has the power to determine who or what may be placed in
front of a judge.
The
test the Crown claims to use is whether "there is a
substantial likelihood of conviction" or "whether it
is in the public interest."
Unfortunately
this is too subjective and simply doesn't even deal with the
defined litmus test: is there a prima facie case to
answer?
The
result of all of this is the ability of the politicians to rig
or control the justice system to suit their aims.
Don't
believe me?
Consider
this. The NDP is in a fiscal nightmare. Court costs are spiraling
out of control. There is no money for the required
new assets in the corrections system.
Ah,
but this is a problem. The bad guys are still breaking into
houses and businesses and stealing cars with impunity. The
police are still making arrests and forwarding charge
recommendations.
Answer:
have fewer trials. Bring fewer criminals before the courts. The
charge approval system is tailor-made for this type of political
interference.
By
keeping the ability to lay criminal charges away from the
police, the government can ensure the numbers are kept
artificially down.
Back
to the courts and probation.
Probation
has become a useless tool. A criminal Breach of Probation
results in a further term of probation. (See above.)
Vancouver
Police have an unofficial policy advising its members not to
waste their time on breaches. There's simply no point in taking
an officer off the street for the time it takes to write the
report to Crown counsel because nothing happens anyway.
In
North Vancouver and other Lower Mainland detachments, an e-mail
has been circulated to all RCMP members saying essentially the
same thing.
The
system has, in most cases, become little more than a charade.
This, dear reader, is the real trouble and it deserves to be
laid squarely at the feet of the premier.
He has been attorney general since 1996. He has had more than ample opportunity to live up to his fictitious reputation as being "tough on crime." He is nothing of the sort.
Shortly
after the dispute started, Dosanjh made a stupid statement to
the media which, to protect the operational integrity of the
situation, forced the RCMP to hastily call a press conference to
deny what then-Attorney General Dosanjh had said.
Since
that time he has done little more than provide lip service
designed to pacify a nervous citizenry.
The
corrections system is, by definition, supposed to
"correct" the anti-social behaviour of those who run
afoul of the law.
But,
as any parent or dog owner will know, bad behaviour can only be
corrected by meting out a consequence for the impropriety. In
the justice system we now have, there is no essential
consequence for criminal behaviour except in the most serious of
circumstances.
That, unfortunately, is the reality in British Columbia today.
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