The first time I stepped into a court room, I lost. My high school law class had a mock trial for a murder case, and I was the Crown. I underestimated how easy it is to poke reasonable doubt into a case.
The first time I stepped into a court room, I lost.
My high school law class had a mock trial for a murder case, and I was the Crown. I underestimated how easy it is to poke reasonable doubt into a case. The judge - who was an actual, presiding judge - was sympathetic. The case was a hard one to prove guilt. Perhaps it was even right that I lost.
The experience was a good one. It gave me a basic understanding of the way that our justice system works, and a faith in it.
When I was 24, I lived in Victoria, B.C., and worked for a temp agency. I was often placed with the Ministry of Attorney General to do data compilation.
It was there that I realized that justice is not necessarily found in a court room. Mediation, alternative measures programs - though these things rarely make headlines, the are crucial to not just our justice system, but our society on the whole. I learned that appearing in a court room is a last resort, when all other attempts have failed.
Flash forward to today, and I have spent a good chunk of my 13-year journalism career in the court room or reporting on issues of justice.
My opinions are a little more nuanced these days.
Last week in Boyle court, I saw a judge do something I had never seen before - Mich
čle Collinson called for a brief adjournment, and said she that she would be back at the bench in 20 minutes.
She was.
Judges always call for “brief ” adjournments, but very rarely are they brief.
As days in courtrooms move incredibly quickly, I often feel the need to sit there and wait, not sure if I am going to miss something important. The other people in the courtroom - witnesses, defendants, family members there for support - have little experience with the system and ask me for help that I can't provide. I can't even tell them if they are safe to take a step outside, because the judge might decide to jump back to the bench and resume court while they are outside of the building.
Collinson's small gesture showed a respect for the people caught in the system. I think it caught some lawyers off guard, because they weren't in the room when court resumed.
I respect our justice system. I think it is a marvel of society, in that at its core it attempts to be fair to all people, and has the ability to change with time and situation.
The problem often arises when people let their prejudices show. What you wear sometimes speaks more than the words coming out of your mouth. A lawyer postulating and dramatizing sometimes does more for a case than actual facts. And an assumption made by a judge or lawyer when they do not follow court procedure by a schedule is that their time is more important than anyone else's in the room.
Is that fair? Is that justice?
In many ways, the system is antiquated. But “the system ” is ours, developed to suit our needs and desires. We get from it what we demand.
