Canada’s criminal justice system is clearly under a lot of strain: Covid brought obvious challenges, judicial shortages are now worse than ever, overcrowding of prisons is a national shame, and delays plague the system. Niagara does not seem to be immune to any of the foregoing.
Case-in-point: the charges against local butcher Richard Lowes. For those readers who do not recall, sexual assault charges were brought against Mr. Lowes back in March of 2021. The allegations are serious. A court-ordered publication ban prevents the media from detailing them.
Prior to today, Friday, Feb, 24, there had been (at least) 25 court proceedings since the charges were first filed. By our count, today's appearance by defense counsel and Crown was number 26. Yet another deferral. Does this set a Niagara record? We don’t know.
What we do know is that two years of delay would not be tolerated in most any other professional setting.
Only because government is involved do some of us shrug our shoulders and think, well, what can you do?
Prior to Covid there was a legal requirement, established by the Supreme Court of Canada, that criminal matters had to be brought to trial within two years. Even that was a challenge for the system, pre-pandemic, and obviously Covid exacerbated the situation.
Presumably the frequent Defense requests for adjournments do not get counted against the two year clock, and the Covid-related delays also seem not to count, which makes sense. Nevertheless, this publication, and anyone with a shred of compassion for Lowes' alleged victims, are left frustrated by, and bitterly angry with, a Crown prosecution that is failing.
At this point one must wonder if there is a problem in the Crown’s Office. Do they not understand that justice delayed is justice denied? Do they think the memories of the witnesses improve over time?
By this publication’s count most of the adjournments have been made at the request of the Defense. There is a self-evident motivation for that. Delay, delay, delay, hope it goes away.
But why does the Crown’s Office keep agreeing? What bloody game is this?
In March these allegations will be two years old, and yet there has been no hearing on their merits. Does our society not take these allegations seriously enough? Does the Niagara Region Crown’s Office need some basic education on the importance of sexual assault allegations, or on its own role in the justice system?
Here’s a suggestion to the Crown’s Office: declare that you are ready for trial, start objecting to the requests for adjournment, and let’s find out whether or not Mr. Lowes is guilty.
In Canadian law, the prosecutor has a duty to withdraw charges if there is no reasonable prospect of conviction. The Crown has had almost two years to review the evidence and we must assume that they feel like they have a reasonable prospect of conviction. If such is the case, then for god’s sake litigate.
If such is not the case, stop the prolonged nonsense. Even if the Crown actually takes heed to this editorial, setting the matter down for trial means that we are months, and likely many months away from a hearing on the merits. Justice system: Do your damned job, and for the rest of us, know that this job starts with the Crown’s Office.
