|A-G pushes plan for justice reform — Family Justice Centre to be set up in Terrace By CRIS LEYKAUF BIG CHANGES are coming to the justice system and Terrace will play a key role in those changes. The Attomey General’s ministry wants to reduce the oumber of civil and criminal cases handled by the courts. In order to cut back on civil court cases the ministry is proposing to set up 20 Family Justice Centres across the province — onc of them in Terrace. The Family Justice Centre would be staffed by family court workers and counselors — but no law- yers. It would deal with marital break-ups and child custody issues. *"We want to take the ag- gravation and tension out of marital break-ups,”’ said At- fomey General Ujjal Dosanjh, who was in Ter- race last week. The Family Justice Centre would allow families to settle civil matters through conciliation, saving them and the courts time and money. Dosanjh said he wants to see the Family Justice Centres set up within a few months. Money for them would be found from within the ministry — so no new money would come into the ministry from general government coffers. AS for criminal court cases, Dosanjh said he'd like to see non-serious, non- violent offenders dealt with outside of the court system. That idea, called restora- tive justice, is already in place in some parts of B.C. The offender, victim, familics .and community representatives meet to talk about the crime, why it hap- pened and what should be Ujjal Dosanjh done. In Australia and New Zealand ihese diversion pro- grams for non-violent, non- serious offenders have decreased court cases by 60 per cent, says Dosanjh, Add that to the cost of what it costs to keep some- one in jail — about $150 a day Dosanjh estimates, “Offenders. become ac- countable to the com- miunity,”” he adds, © Victims also play a much bigger role, confronting the offender and helping to de- cide the punishment. Diverting these criminal and civil court cases will free up the resources of the justice system to deal with serious. and violent of- fenders. Right now high caseloads mean that these cases may not get the atten- tion they deserve, The Attorney General’s ministry is drafting guidelines right now for how the restorative justice programs would work, For example, the police would make an arrest and in consultation with crown counsel, decide the offender and victim would be best served by by-passing the courls. The community, victim and offender would decide on appropriate restitution. If the offender didn’t com- ply with the agreed-on sentence, then he or she could be prosecuted for non- compliance. However, Dosanjh says compliance averages about 95 per cent. The alternative - sending non-violent offenders to jail — sometimes causes them to come out hardened criminals, he says. Dosanjh is leaving it up to each community to decide what works best there. There will be some guidelines, such as which offenders can be considered for this type of justice. But Dosanjh says he doesn’t want ta _ stifle creativily. As for aboriginal com- munities, he says they can participate in the process the same as any other com- munities — perhaps adopt- ing models unique to their culture. Dosanjh isn’t worried that people seeking retribution against offenders will try to hijack there restorative jus- tice programs. “Common sense usually prevails,’’ he says. ‘‘People are actually full of compas- sion.”’ He thinks restorative jus- tice will heal communities, offenders and victims. One catch is that these programs will rely heavily on volunteers. But he ack- nowledges that some areas may need paid coordinators. “We really want to make this a community effort.” Guidelines should available in a few weeks. be Out-of-court justice ideas meet support, questions PROPOSED reforms to the justice system are getting mostly favourable reviews here. Attomey General Ujjal Dosanjh was in Terrace last week to talk to lawyers, police and courtworkers. He was getting feedback on reforms which would see many civil and criminal cases diverted from court. In criminal cases, non-serious, non- violent offenders would sentenced by a community group consisting of the victim, families and any other affected. In Terrace one system being looked at is Family Group Conferencing. It’s modelled on the Australian system where offenders are dealt with quickly, shamed and usually don’t re-offend. This method of justice also means young offenders wouldn’t develop contacts with other criminals. RCMP Inspector Steve Leach is enthusiastic about Family Group Confer- encing. The offender has to face his or her victim, something which often doesn't happen, and justice is delivered swiftly, said Leach. “It would also eliminate police officers from standing around in court day after day,'’ he said. ‘‘Nine times out of ten mem- bers don’t even end up testifying.” Police officers who aren’t in court can spend more time doing their jobs on the street, he pointed out, Criminal defense lawyer Brian Fell liked the idea of victims being able to confront offenders face to face. , That usually doesn’t happened he said. “Usually they just have to listen to. the judge.”' However, Fell is worried about how much the attorney general plans to rely on volwiteers to make this restorative justice work, He thinks paid staff are needed to run jus- tice diversion programs. But Inspector Leach thinks finding volunteers won't be a problem. The RCMP community consultative committee is very enthusiastic about the idea, for example, he points out. He expects to see a group modelled after Family Group Conferencing up and running in a year’s time. Defense lawyer Grant Lindsey liked the idea of increased justice diversion, but had concems he wanted the Attorney General’s ministry to look into. He wonders what would happen to of- fenders who insist they’re not guilty, or who acted in self-defense, Under the sys- tem the ministry is proposing, he wonders if there would be anyone to speak for those offenders. Police, he said, are often looking for an admission of guilt. They might not check into the accused’s motivations or back- ground, particularly if they don’t have the time or resources, “The prevalent attitude is if you're charged, you're guilty.”” ‘Lindsey also pointed out that there could be a great deal of differences between how communities dealt with offences, Under the proposed system, individual communities would have a great deal of say. That’s appropriate, he said, but he wondered if it would be fair in all cases. ‘What if you live in a zero-tolerance community?” be asked, Another issue brought up at the meeting with the attormey general was lack of fund- ing to legal aid. Dosanjh said there wouldn’t be any increased money for legal aid in the new system, HAIR GALLERY 4711D KEITH AVENUE, TERRACE + 635-3729 CRIME ail STOPPERS James W. Radéle RADELET & COMPANY aaristers esoictos of. Of Tax Law* Trusts + Corporate & Commercial 1330 - 1075 West Georgia Streat, Vancouver, 8.C. 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