Calgary defence lawyers speak out on job action and its effects on the system
Posted Nov 18, 2022 7:34 pm.
Alberta criminal defence lawyers have yet to reach an agreement with the provincial government when it comes to legal aid funding and say vulnerable Albertans are unfairly being impacted.
According to Calgary defence lawyer Kim Arial, the situation in courts isn’t good, and it’s only getting worse for vulnerable Albertans.
“The steps are incremental, but we are at the top of what we can do. Now we are seeing those effects and they will continue to snowball,” Arial said.
“So now all these cases that aren’t being set for trial right now, once people do get back to getting counsel, everybody’s going to want to be setting their trials at the same time. There won’t be enough court time, enough crown prosecutors, enough judges to accommodate that.”
“Now we are seeing those effects and they will continue to snowball,” Arial said.
According to Arial, docket courts are being backlogged because cases can’t move forward without counsel being appointed.
She says the province has stated that they aren’t seeing any delays, and she’s calling newly appointed Premier Danielle Smith to come see for herself.
“I would like to see her come down to our docking ports and take a look at the impact,” Arial said. “There’s been a few statements from the government that they haven’t seen that this drop in action is having any impact.”
“So I invite her to come on down to the courtroom in Calgary and see what’s actually happening.”
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In early October the government announced an increase to the legal aid tariff by just over 8 per cent.
The government says Alberta currently ranks sixth among provinces when it comes to tariff rates. Roster lawyers with 10 years of experience make $92.40 an hour, the 8.225 per cent tariff increase raises those wages to $100 an hour, changing Alberta’s ranking to fourth overall.
In a statement to CityNews, the Justice Minister’s office says Alberta’s government is open to continuing discussions with the criminal defence associations and further increasing the tariff rate.
They say they hope the four defence organizations reconsider or pause their job action.
-With files from Joey Chini
