The president of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers is worried the justice system will try to delay jury trials as it deals with COVID-19 at the expense of the rights of those accused of a crime.
Bill Trudell said a number of provinces, including Ontario and Saskatchewan, are postponing jury trials in order to deal with a growing backlog of cases after COVID-19. “I hope that there is an encouragement to restart jury trials.
I hope we don’t get used to not having jury trials,” Trudell said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “I think a lot of people might say, ‘Hey, lets go judge alone because it’s more efficient and more expeditious and expedient,’ and that’s a terrible way of looking at it.” Trudell said he’s worried