Nunavut appeals court dismisses appeal of contempt of court acquittal
Iqaluit Crown lawyer fought to have judgment voided, calling process ‘miscarriage of justice’
The Nunavut Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of a contempt of court acquittal by Crown lawyer Emma Baasch in a decision released Wednesday. (File photo)
Updated on Friday, June 23, 2023 at 12:30 p.m.
Nunavut’s top court does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal from an accused person on his or her own acquittal.
That is the fundamental reason why Iqaluit Crown lawyer Emma Baasch will not see a judgment voided that finds her not guilty of contempt of court, but admonishes her for failing in her ethical duties to the court.
The Nunavut Court of Appeals released its decision on the matter Wednesday.
In January, Baasch filed an appeal of a judgment, written by Justice Paul Bychok last December. Bychok found Baasch had acted in contempt of court in the arrest of a man at the Iqaluit courthouse last July, although the judge said the lawyer did not intend to “bring public disdain” upon the court.
Bychok cited Baasch and RCMP Cpl. Andrew Kerstens after police arrested the man just before his trial was set to begin.
Kerstens argued the arrest was in the public interest but Bychok disagreed, saying it interfered with the court’s duties that day.
In her appeal, Baasch cited several concerns about how Bychok handled the situation. She called Bychok’s decision a “miscarriage of justice,” expressing concern for her reputation and career because her professional ethics had been called into question.
Baasch’s lawyer Robert Frater and Crown lawyer Mark Covan both acknowledged when the appeal was heard that it is unusual for an accused person to appeal an acquittal, and determining the Nunavut Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to do so was the central question the judges would have to consider when they heard the matter May 9.
“We have concerns about the way the hearing judge dealt with this matter,” states the decision, signed by Justices Edith Campbell, Kevin Feehan and Anne Kirker.
“However, criminal appeals are statutory in nature and there are no statutory routes for an accused to appeal an acquittal for criminal contempt.”
The judgment goes on to say that Baasch has no avenue for seeking remedy in this matter other than to go to the Supreme Court of Canada.
“We will be considering that option in the coming days,” stated Frater, Baasch’s lawyer, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.
Correction: This story has been corrected to clarify that the Nunavut Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to appeal from an acquittal is restricted in cases when an accused appeals their own acquittal.
Yep, that’s lawyers. Fight like hell when they’re personally impacted, but cut ridiculous deals for their clients to make less work for themselves.
Soon basically they agreed that Bychok messed up but punted it to the SC because they have no legal avenue to deal with it?
I think we need to look at the what the person who was arrested was arrested for? If you are threatening a witness then it is in the best interest of the courts. NN just pull the court records from the next day when he was charged with this crime.
Is the Law Society actually concerned? Everyone who works here knows comments from Paul Bychok are usually hot air and that he is overly critical of almost all lawyers and that it seems no one can do right in the guy’s eyes.
Yes, it’s true that anyone with local knowledge knows that this judge is full of hot air and prone to saying outrageous things about lawyers appearing in front of him. But, he’s still a judge and his words have to be taken seriously regardless of how inflammatory they may be. That is why this case is so disturbing, and it’s also why the court of appeal decision is disappointing in that it didn’t really call out the judges bad behaviour and explain why his handling of the case was concerning. That’s why I really hope the Supreme Court of Canada hears this case and calls out this judge for what he did. There must be some accountability. It should have come from the court of appeal but they decided to take the easy route and pass the buck.
The SCC hears very few cases and I will be surprised if they hear this. They tend to focus on “national interest” cases.
.
I am wondering if she should really drop the criminal process that does not appear to give an avenue to appeal an acquittal and proceed with a defamation claim or declaratory relief to get the vindication she is seeking.
To the few anonymous Nunavummiut who choose to rake muck and complain about your Judges, please remember that they are living in the community along side of you. Long gone are the days of the circuit courts when you didn’t know if the person getting off of the plane to preside over cases was sane let alone sober or coherent. You are blessed to have the people you do as neighbours and Judges. I am personally familiar with 4 of the current Judges and none of them are doing the job for money or fame. They do it as a public service. If you are completely honest with yourself, is it a job you would want to do in your home community? Answer: Not Likely!!
Paul F. Fraser
Not Anonymous
Are the Crown Counsels and Police Officers who are subject to this judges whims and tirades not neighbours? I think it could be easily argued that the job of a Crown or police officer within a community that they live in is substantially more difficult, especially when they’re getting it from both the public and the bench. The same could be said for seeking “money or fame” as the Crown and Police are also public servants. Yet this judge continues to criticize and blast everyone else (even neighbours!), despite being repeatedly overturned or negatively commented on (just like this case) by an appeal court.
I usually don’t reply to comments but this one really deserves one. Mr. Fraser, you are exactly right, we must remember that our judges are people too who live in our community along side us. And so are our defence lawyers and prosecutors, they are people too who live in our community along side us. The fact that we all live together in this small community only makes Bychok’s approach all the more unacceptable. Everyone being together in a small community is all the more reason why this judge needs to show some restraint when it comes to his inflammatory language and calling lawyers unethical. I find it beyond ironic that you criticize the earlier comments for being too critical of this judge who himself has never shown any restraint in his over the top criticism of others. When this judge writes what he writes, why should he be surprised that people say what they say about him?
I respect the opinion of MIGA and I am pleased that I jogged a rely out of you. Good stuff! Debate is healthy.
My comments in defence of the Judges was one side because the comments I was reading were in themselves one sided. I saw no reason to vilify nor praise the RCMP or prosecutors. (And I certainly wasn’t going to drag the poor defence lawyers into this bollox of a discussion.) They all have their own lives to live, jobs to do as well as their own consciences. May be best that the community learn to live together and let those paid the big bucks fight their own battles.
Finally, not to you MIGA, but to those who think that I was never dressed down, had egregious things said to me and even kicked out of Court by Provincial & Territorial Court Judges than you are sadly naive. Yes I was an officer of the court and thought I deserved some respect but that gave me no tread. The response to such behaviour was: “Sit down buttercup and suck it up!” There was never an opportunity to complain, only the unspoken challenge not to get caught again displeasing the court.
The first fallacy is suggesting that because anonymity is possible, the comments should be discredited. Nope.
.
Second fallacy is that everyone should be so grateful for local judges. True, but not at the cost of having the quality of the judiciary we have. As for me I find I appear more to southern judges flown in than the local ones because they are always conflicted out or on vacation. They are usually better natured and better jurists. For example you can expect a case decision within a month, which for the locals is unlikely even for grade 1 matters.