SEPTEMBER REVIEW
Calgary’s Criminal Defence Lawyer’s Association had its largest turnout – 40 lawyers – for the September 9th, 2008 meeting. Several issues were discussed, including the CDLA’s participation in LESA’s continuing education program and of course practice implementations. Committees were created to address each of these areas. Jim Lutz, Joel Livergant and Rebecca Snukal volunteered to spearhead continuing education programs; while Mitch Stephensen, Mike Dinkel and Allan Fay were tasked with the responsibility of liaising with Judge Wilkins regarding the various practice implementations. CDLA President Charlie Stewart sits on all committees. Additionally, Margaret Keelaghan and Nancy Cush offered to liaise with the Edmonton Trial Lawyer’s Association in an effort to create some synchronicity between our association and our more experienced colleagues up north.
The CDLA Website continued to grow. Access to the Member’s Only section was opened to all defence lawyers. This section of the Website includes legal resources, such as briefs, memorandums and a wealth of other useful information designed to assist members with the day to day practice of law. Resources on these pages are only as good as the contributions made from members of the criminal defence bar, and as such, we encourage everybody to contribute on a regular basis. We are indebted to John Hooker for his valuable contributions. Members are encouraged to forward legal briefs, arguments, factums or other submissions to admin@ccdla.ca . All contributions are welcome and will be posted in the Private Member’s Section.
Additionally, the CDLA has created an “online calendar”. Invitations to join the Online Calendar were forwarded to all lawyers. The Online Calendar is a useful resource for locating defence counsel travelling to the various circuit points and other jurisdictions. Like all of the resources on this site, the online calendar only properly functions with the participation of all defence counsel.
In addition to research and other information contained within the Member’s Only section, the CDLA Website also offers a private “member’s only” chat page (the CDLA Rant) and the CDLA Forum. The CDLA Forum is designed to promote more scholarly contributions. All members are welcome to submit contributions to the CDLA Forum at cdlaforum@ccdla.ca . Should anybody have any suggestions for the CDLA Website, or wish to contribute to the Website (with research ect.) please send comments to admin@ccdla.ca or post your thoughts on the CDLA Rant. A number of suggestions have been made by various members – such as posting minutes of each meeting on the Website. These implementations will be made in due course.
Finally, annual membership fees for the CDLA are due. Please submit membership fees in trust to CDLA Treasurer Mike Dinkel as soon as possible.
MEETING: OCTOBER 14TH, 2008
The next CDLA general meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 12:30pm in the Barrister’s Lounge Boardroom at the Calgary Court’s Centre. Again, we welcome and encourage active participation by all members of the defence bar (including members of the Youth Criminal Defence Office and Duty Counsel). So we can properly address issues, we invite every member to email concerns to the executive so that issues may be tabled at the upcoming meeting. The proposed agenda includes progress updates from the various committees and continued discussion on strategies to deal with practice implementations. Perhaps most importantly, however, CDLA President Charlie Stewart and Treasurer Mike Dinkel will speak to the group about a Province-Wide Case Management Project.
PROVINCE-WIDE CASE MANAGEMENT PROJECT
Deputy Chief Judge Lefever contacted the CDLA in September to advise that a Province-Wide Case Management Initiative has been in the works for sometime. Should it come to fruition, the new Case Management regime could result in dramatic changes to the practice of criminal law in this jurisdiction. Deputy Chief Judge Lefever has graciously offered to speak to the Calgary defence bar about this initiative on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, 2008 at 12:30 p.m. in the Barrister’s Lounge Boardroom. Given the importance of this information session, we request and encourage all members of the CDLA to attend. Also, should anybody wish to familiarize themselves with the initiative, please visit http://www.albertacourts.ca/ . An “Executive Summary” of the project is readily available to all viewers at:
http://www.albertacourts.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=X3VS1VYdqOo%3d&tabid=52&mid=533 .
Though the case management initiative includes a number of proposals, Crown file ownership is at the forefront of the agenda. Also included within the agenda are proposals such as: an electronic court booking system, augmented utilization of the Justice of the Peace for administrative matters and the use by the Crown of paralegals and legal assistants in docket courts rather than lawyers. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
The Calgary criminal defence bar has hitherto been absent from discussions regarding this project. Bottom line: to protect the rights of the accused and the interests of independent practitioners at the criminal defence bar, we must get involved.
Submitted by: David G. Chow
Fagan & Chow
BRIEF ON PROPOSED CHANGES by Alan Pearse
This is a brief on the proposed changes to the Provincial Court of Alberta, Criminal Division.
The document reviewed is approximately six (6) pages long. It contains many meaningless “mom and apple pie” statements. It also contains practical changes to the court.
From a practical standpoint, there are several changes of note:
a.) The entire division of labor at the crown’s office is going to be overhauled. Specifically:
i. There will be a “file ownership” policy.
ii. Crown will be assigned to a file very early on.
iii. There will be less real prosecutors and judges in court for non-contentious matters. Crown will use “paralegals,” and the court will use a “Justice of the Peace.”
b. Unless your matter is complex, or unless there is a Charter argument, you will no longer have an assigned trial courtroom. On the day of trial, all matters will be placed into an “assignment court.” Witnesses, defense and crown will all report to this court. Within this courtroom a determination will be made as to where the matter will proceed. For example, if it is to proceed to trial, the case is moved to a trial court. If the case is to be adjourned, then it will be done in the assignment court. If the case is to be resolved, then it goes to a resolution court.
c. Technology will be used to handle this system. Defence counsel are expected to interact with the new technology.
Ultimately, since this new system will save time, more specialized courts will be created.
Submitted by: Alan Pearse
Sunday, October 5, 2008
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