After months of conflict, Attorney General Simon Jolin-Barrette and Chief Justice of the Quebec Court Lucie Rondeau have both put water in their wine. Quebec is creating 14 new judgeships and judges agree to sit more.
The agreement published on Friday afternoon presents itself as a hard-fought compromise.
“It contains concessions that would not have been made had the parties not had a desire to reach a compromise for the benefit of the litigants and the criminal and criminal justice system.”
For months, Lucie Rondeau has been calling for 41 new judges to be hired.
To put pressure on Quebec, she had made the decision to reduce the number of hearing days, and the judges only sat one day out of two instead of two days out of three as before.
A mediator was appointed last January to facilitate exchanges.
The government eventually approved the creation of 14 new posts.
In return, the judges of the Criminal and Trial Chambers agreed to sit 17 more days per court year.
They will therefore hold hearings a little more than every other day, but a little less than two days out of three.
But to end the discord, the court made other concessions.
In particular, it has committed to closing more cases than it opens each year, which should help reduce delays in courthouses.
The judges also accepted that Quebec conducts a quarterly follow-up to assess the impact of these measures and progress toward the goals.
The government is talking about a “great gain” since a procedure for monitoring the work of judges has been set up for the first time.
Minister Jolin-Barrette welcomed the deal, which he said would allow “tangible gains” to be made in the interests of “victims and citizens” by relieving pressure on the justice system.
“We have a shared responsibility to provide accessible, prompt and humane services to citizens,” he said in a written statement to the QMI agency.
The President of the Commission des Services Juridiques, Me Daniel LaFrance, was also pleased with the news. “This agreement is beneficial for all litigants as it reduces delays and thus allows better access to justice.”