Clients, courts and the computer age: N.B. justice system gets a revamp
Law Society of New Brunswick says transforming system is ‘all about access to justice’
The New Brunswick justice system is being brought into the digital age with a six-year plan to modernize the court system through the addition of electronic filing and improved in-court technology, as well as greater public access for self representation.
Justice Minister Rob McKee said right now "everything is essentially a paper file," and those who work in the court system have been calling for change.
"It was the number one priority that we heard from all the chief judges, from the three levels of court, that were pounding the table that the digital transformation is long overdue."
McKee said the $32 million dollar project will make the justice system more efficient and user friendly, and make access to records easier and ultimately reduce delays.
Video conferencing will be up to the discretion of the judge, and McKee said in some cases could be used instead of bringing a prisoner to the courthouse. It could also cut down on the amount of time a lawyer would have to spend in court waiting for a case to be called by the judge.
Fixing the backlog
The plan is part of a wider initiative to tackle an overburdened court system. For years, Crown prosecutors have been raising the alarm about delays because of shortages in the legal profession, leading to more charges being stayed.
At a news conference last month about the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada's Jordan decision, which set timelines for trials, New Brunswick Court of Appeal Chief Justice Marc Richard told reporters that meeting those deadlines is problematic, and often means civil cases get bumped.
The Jordan decision says that trials in provincial court should be complete within 18 months of a charge being laid, while it's 30 months at the Court of King's Bench, which holds jury trials.
Richard said that in provincial court, they double or triple book trials, so that if there's a resolution, time isn't wasted.
"But when you think about the impact of that, if a prosecutor has to get ready for three trials on Monday morning at 9:00, that's a lot of work only to find out that two of them collapse."
When asked how technology could help augment the system, he said "Do you have a couple of hours?"
Richard said he has been pushing for better use of technology since he became chief justice.
"We at the Court of Appeal ... instituted many years ago an e-filing system that's very archaic, through emails," he said. "The sheer number of cases makes it so they don't have the staff to handle that. We need a proper e-filing system, case-management system in this province."
Additional Crown prosecutor positions
There is also an increasing volume of digital evidence, including from police body-worn cameras, that has compounded the work of Crown prosecutors who are already short staffed.
McKee said that is being addressed with the addition of six new positions to take on the new role of body-worn camera evidence.
Those new positions will bring the total number of Crown prosecutors to 98. There are still 22 vacancies, but McKee's office said offers have been accepted for eight of those jobs.
New impaired driving rules that took effect in January have also diverted nearly two-thirds of all cases away from the court system.
Between Jan. 1 and April 10, more than 190 drivers were issued the new immediate roadside suspension.
That includes having their licence immediately suspended for seven days and their vehicle impounded for three days, with a longer duration for higher blood-alcohol content.
In the same time period, 101 people were given an administrative suspension and a pending court date for driving under the influence.
Electronic filing long overdue
Marc Richard, executive director of the Law Society of New Brunswick, has been calling for these changes for years to catch up with the rest of the country.
"We're in 2025 right now. The court system is still using its paper system across all the different judicial districts and it's not practical, it doesn't work well."
He said when Covid struck, it exposed just how unprepared the court system was to deal with cases while still in lockdown. He said email just wasn't cutting it.
"You need to have a good digital platform to receive those documents, to share those documents and files with the judges around the province."
Cost savings for the public
Richard said the changes will also cut down on travel expenses. For example, a lawyer would no longer have to drive to the courthouse — sometimes in another city — to file documents, at the client's expense.
With improved video conferencing, a lawyer could appear virtually to avoid extended travel or poor weather conditions, if the judge permits.
Richard said people representing themselves would also have better access to information about their case. And for those trying to file an uncontested divorce, that could be done electronically, without the need for a lawyer or judge.
"It's really to find a way to transform the system to really reduce the time for the judge to be involved in the case," he said.
"It's going to be better for lawyers, it's going to be better for their clients. It's going to be better for the self-represented litigants and also for the judges and the whole court system to move forward in a way that really reduces the backlog that we've been seeing in the courts."
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