Officials with B.C.’s top trial court say there is an ongoing COVID-related backlog in the courts, but that “good progress” is being made to reduce the problem.
In March 2020 when the pandemic hit, the B.C. Supreme Court suspended all but urgent matters in order to ensure the safety of court participants.
Several months later, regular proceedings resumed and all matters now regularly heard by the Supreme Court are going ahead in person, by video conference or by telephone.
In the spring of 2020, the pandemic displaced more than 1,100 trials, including 786 civil trials, 160 criminal trials and 167 family trials.
Since then, 173 of those cases have been heard, 232 have been booked for future dates or are currently being heard, and 352 are no longer proceeding, according to statistics released by the court.
Of the civil and family trials that have not yet booked future dates, it is likely that those matters have been discontinued or settled, but if not, further action is necessary before continuing to proceed in the court system.
Of the 160 displaced criminal trials, 105 have already been heard, three are currently being heard, four are scheduled to be heard, and 48 are no longer proceeding.
“There continue to be some adjournments and delays linked to the pandemic, many of them beyond the court’s control, originating when parties or counsel are unable to proceed, including instances where a party or counsel may have to self-isolate due to COVID-19 symptoms or exposure,” said the court.
“Additionally, the temporary suspension of civil jury trials has been extended until Oct. 8, 2022, although civil jury trials originally scheduled to occur before that date are proceeding by judge alone.”
The court, which said that it is making “good progress” to reduce the remaining backlog, added that when trials and chambers hearings are bumped, it is generally for the same reasons as before the pandemic.
“The court continues to see a high volume of cases, including a large number of very long and complex trials, without a full complement of judges to hear all of them in a timely fashion.”
The pandemic has had a direct impact on a long-running double murder trial in the Vancouver Law Courts that saw the two accused earlier this year get COVID, resulting in a delay in the proceedings.
In two other cases, Supreme Court judges have taken a different approach on the question of whether jurors in criminal trials should be fully vaccinated before they serve on a jury.
Regarding the suspension of civil juries, the B.C. government is now looking at a number of options for the future of civil juries, including a proposal to scrap them altogether, a move which has been opposed by several legal groups such as the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. branch).
Asked to comment on any ongoing court backlogs, the provincial court, which hears most of the court cases in B.C., pointed to a report released in September.
The report noted that during the pandemic, the court experienced a substantial increase in total active criminal cases but that those numbers have since decreased to pre-pandemic levels.
But the number of active criminal cases older than 18 months continues to increase during the pandemic, with nine per cent of those cases now being older than 18 months.
“The increase in the number of criminal cases older than 18 months may be due, in part, to the suspension of regular court operations that occurred at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the office of the chief judge said in a statement.
Aleem Bharmal, first vice-president of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. branch), told Postmedia that in cases of alleged unreasonable trial delay in criminal cases, the courts look at all of the circumstances and allow for leeway in exceptional circumstances.
He said he had spoken to the criminal bar which feels that the pandemic would likely be considered an exceptional circumstance.
“Therefore the general consensus is that it’s unlikely a case would be dismissed solely because of court delays due to the pandemic.”
