Crown prosecutors' association grieved province's directive on staffing weekend bail hearings and an arbitrator ordered the province to negotiate
From Postmedia News
A fight between the B.C. government and its Crown prosecutors over a measure to tighten up bail in serious crimes is headed to court.
Last year, the B.C. government ordered Crown prosecutors to staff bail hearings for people accused of serious crimes when they happen outside regular court hours. After-hours hearings had been handled by police officers.
Now the B.C. Public Service Agency has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court. It argues efforts to change how bail is handled by B.C. prosecutors in serious criminal cases will fail under a recent arbitrator’s order that required the province to first negotiate with its prosecutors on the terms and conditions of staffing after hours the hearings.
The province is asking for the courts to block the arbitrator’s decision immediately, pending a full judicial review.
“Irreparable harm will occur if a stay is not granted because it will halt a program that was created in furtherance of the public interest,” the province said in its petition, adding the program would ensure that Crown prosecutors conduct bail hearings in all indictable, or serious, matters, including outside of regular court sitting hours.
“Should the (arbitrator’s) decision stand prior to judicial review, there will be a significant detrimental impact on the criminal justice system,” argues the province’s court petition.
The dispute began in April 2022, when the province ordered the change and laid out how it would happen. It said it had the legal right to determine terms and conditions for Crown prosecutors working on weekends. The government argued that it did not legally have to negotiate those issues with B.C. Crown Counsel Association when it came to bail procedures.
The association filed a grievance. An arbitrator ruled the government must negotiate.
The province’s petition asks the court to rule that the province can legally issue a directive on bail hearings without entering into an agreement with the B.C. Crown Counsel Association.
“The B.C. Crown Counsel Association’s position is that arbitrator, John Hall, reached the right decision and we will be filing our response to the government’s petition in due course,” association president Adam Dalrymple said in an email.
The B.C. case indicates one reason for the change was a ruling by Alberta’s equivalent of the B.C. Supreme Court that it is improper for police to represent the Crown at bail hearings.
The Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench ruled only Crown prosecutors have the legal authority to conduct bail hearings in serious legal matters.
An Alberta government report said many people believe justice is only served when prosecutors, not police, handle bail hearings, as such hearings are not a policing function. Most cops aren’t trained to argue legal principles and case law with defence lawyers, the report said.