"The system is not broken": BC defends criminal justice system

Sep 12 2022, 9:48 pm

The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) is responding to ongoing public criticism of the criminal justice system in the province, suggesting it isn’t broken.

Peter Juk QC is the Assistant Deputy Attorney General for the province and also the head of the BCPS, and he recently wrote a statement addressing the concerns of the public when it comes to the criminal justice system.

Some concerns from the public include prolific career criminals who tend to re-offend, sometimes in violent ways. We’ve seen that play out in the Downtown Eastside and surrounding areas time and time again.

Earlier this year, former BC Attorney General David Eby put together a strategy to address the problem of prolific offenders in the province. At the time, Eby said the plan was to assign a few experts to investigate the issue and provide results after 120 days.

Those results were supposed to be released on September 2, but a delay has pushed that to mid-September.

Juk says that he understands the concerns about crime and public safety and that they’re “a normal feature of public discourse.”

He mentions how the province is grappling with addiction and the toxic opioid crisis. However, he also states that the criminal justice system can’t alone fix all the issues impacting the province.

Juk also addresses the issue of prolific offenders, first saying that the problem has no “clear legal definition under the Criminal Code.”

Crown Counsel in British Columbia always consider the specific circumstances of every accused person or offender and the specific circumstances of every offence, whenever they are conducting charge assessment, or formulating a position on bail, or determining a sentencing position after conviction.

Some have referred to this ongoing issue as “catch and release” regarding the bail process, but Juk believes this undermines how the process works.

This phrase tends to undermine a basic principle underlying all enlightened criminal
justice systems: respect for the humanity of all individuals, including those who are accused of crime. It also ignores or makes light of how fundamental, complex, and factspecific the bail process is.”

The letter from Juk concludes with a general sentiment that the BC criminal justice “system is not broken.”

No system is perfect, however, and public confidence in the criminal justice system is vital to its success. Public scrutiny, informed discussion, and reasoned debate help to ensure that our criminal justice system is functioning properly.

Juk’s final point seems to come back to the ongoing and layered issues impacting BC, including the opioid crisis and many struggling with mental health issues, and how the criminal justice system alone cannot address these issues.

Do you agree with Juk, or do you think the system is broken? Let us know in the comments.

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