BILL NO. 5 - Provincial Court Act. - Second Reading
MS. CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I'm pleased to rise today to speak to Bill No. 5, put forth by the Progressive Conservative caucus. I want to thank the member for Pictou West for championing this bill and for speaking on this issue for so long. It is an important response to the concerns of many Nova Scotians about the fair treatment of sexual assault victims in our justice system. We have now heard a lot from these two members, so I will try not to say all those same things again. But I do have a few words to say.
In trying to respond to these tragic crimes once they do come to trial, we as elected officials must attempt to balance the independence of the judiciary with the need to ensure public confidence in our judicial system. As I read it, this bill attempts to strike that balance by ensuring that judges receive education and training in sexual assault issues prior to ruling.
As someone who has undergone legal training and, more particularly, has worked in professional development for lawyers - this is the first time that has ever been a valuable career thing outside of that particular job, so here I am - I know the value of professional development. So I'm very happy to see this bill come forward. Of course, with colleagues still working in the profession, I know others are as well.
I want to say quickly that, as we just heard, our justice system is not particularly kind to victims. It goes without saying that victims of sexual violence are often doubly impacted.
We know, Mr. Speaker, that sexual violence is a persistent issue in Nova Scotia, one that needs addressing from many angles, including funding for transition houses and women's centres and all kinds of other areas where we are still waiting for more action. But putting that aside for a moment, I just want to remind the members that that is not what this bill is talking about. What this bill is talking about is education for the judiciary. I would just urge us to keep focused on that.
Clause 1 of this bill requires judges to take comprehensive education training in sexual assault law. I think this is a good first step. I think moving forward, the bill would require some consultation with the legal profession, particularly those who specialize in sexual assault law, just to ensure that this training is comprehensive, that it's reflective of our laws, and that it exists. I'm not sure about what is actually out there. I think that that's something that I would want to have more information about.
I think requiring judges to understand the history of sexual assault law and associated precedence prior to sitting behind the bench could increase public confidence that judges have the necessary perspective when deciding sexual assault cases. As I heard many times in law school, in order for justice to be done, justice must appear to be done. That's the issue that we are dealing with here.
Having judges complete continuing education on sexual assault law over time, as required in Clause 2, is a reasonable approach, as laws do evolve over time. This continuing education would also send a signal to the public that it's not just about doing a course to qualify to sit on the bench but about keeping up to date on the evolution of this important area of the law.
Clause 3 requires a written decision when the proceeding is for a sexual offence pursuant to the Criminal Code. I think that this would be a necessary and welcome improvement to the current status quo. It goes without saying, but I will say it. The case which sparked all of this controversy only came to light because a journalist - and we know that journalists are in somewhat more short supply than they once were - happened to be in the courtroom and caught the decision. This would take that issue firmly out of the realm of speculation and we would know when these cases came down and we would know what the findings are, which I think is particularly important.
Clause 4 requires the Chief Judge to consider the time required by a judge to attend and complete continuing education relating to sexual assault when assigning duties. While it is, I think, appropriate the Chief Judge consider this, I would hope that it's not the only consideration the Chief Judge would make. As we just heard from the member for Fairview-Clayton Park, the very newest judge appointed has very specialized training and background, and she's not the only one on the bench. I think we need to make sure there's enough nuance to consider the training that judges had, what their career was prior because there are many who are going to know more than they're ever going to know with any course. I think we do need to be respectful of the judiciary and how they come to the bench.
Saying that, I note that I suspect this clause does push a little bit the limits of balancing the desire to take action with the independence of the judiciary, but I am confident that balance can be struck in the implementation phase with constructive dialogue.
To conclude, I think that increasing the diversity of judicial appointments has gone a long way to broaden the perspective behind the bench. That being said, we have to ensure that there is public confidence in our legal system. The recent debate around sexual assault cases shows that we can, and must, improve upon this. Ensuring that judges have the necessary education and training in the area of sexual assault prior to taking the bench is a positive step in the right direction. Acknowledging the problem is part of the path forward and this is something we heard from the member across the aisle. But again, I want to just clarify that we live in a very rapidly changing time and so I think you would be hard- pressed to have anyone tell you, at least in polite company, that they don't think that sexual assault or sexual violence is a problem.
That being said, that in no way means they know how to deal with it, so it's good that our judiciary in general is eager to tackle this problem, that they're in dialogue about it - I don't think it alleviates the need for specialized training.
I want to thank the member again for raising this bill and, with that, I will conclude.
Published by Order of the Legislature by Hansard Reporting Services and printed by the Queen's Printer.
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