Will the new combined court change justice in Nunavut?

ANNETTE BOURGEOIS
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — For most residents, the creation of Nunavut represents the breaking of old habits and the discovery of new ways of governing.

The development of the new territory’s justice system is one area where Nunavummiut have high expectations for change.

Rebecca Williams, Nunavut’s assistant deputy minister of justice, says that in the past Inuit had little say within a justice system forced upon them from Ottawa.

“For us, the result has too often been silence in our communities — silence about social problems, silence about bad behaviour and people who are hurt, and silence about our own disputes and how to resolve them.”

Developing a new court structure for Nunavut, instead of adopting what exists in every other jurisdiction in Canada, is a step towards reconciling those issues.

NIC recommendation

In its 1996 Footprints II report, the Nunavut Implementation Commission, the body set up to advise on the design of Nunavut’s government, recommended that the Nunavut territory’s court be unified — that is, that the superior court and territorial court be put together into one a single court.

During a two-day justice conference in Iqaluit in November, 1997, justice workers from across the territory further suggested this was the way to structure Nunavut’s court.

The three parties to the Nunavut Political Accord — Nunavut Tunngavik, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal department of Indian Affairs — agreed to the unified court proposal at a January, 1998 meeting in Iqaluit.

Bill C-57, the legislation creating the Nunavut Court of Justice, wove its way through the House of Commons and Senate committees and last week received third reading from the Senate. It’s expected to receive royal assent this week.

Cheaper, less complicated court

Justice services in Nunavut are delivered by nomadic, fly-in, fly-out courts at either the territorial or supreme court level.

These courts travel on different schedules several times a year through every community except Iqaluit, and each are restricted from dealing with matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the other court.

But the combined Nunavut Court of Justice allows its judges to deal with all judicial matters in a community in a single visit, from serious matters to minor matters, as well as family court and civil matters.

The Nunavut Court will maintain this fly-in, fly-out system, but it’s expected to be more efficient, less complicated, and less expensive to operate.

“Right now the situation is that the territorial court goes into three communities, let’s say, in the High Arctic, and that will cost $22,000,” explains Nunavut’s deputy minister of justice, Nora Saunders. “If a preliminary inquiry were deferred for another time, you would wait another four to si x months to get to that. For that court, there would be the same cost again.

“Then it goes to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court will fly in for another $15,000. I can see that some of the costs could be cut, because maybe the preliminary inquiry and trial can happen at one time.”

Nunavut’s Member of Parliament Nancy Karetak-Lindell, in explaining the bill to her colleagues last fall when it was introduced in the House of Commons, said the single court system should reduce the time people wait for their cases to be heard.

“I personally know of a young family where the husband took his life, leaving a wife and two children, because of the stress involved with waiting for a court case to come around.”

Now that the legislation has been passed, Karetak-Lindell is hopeful that attitudes will begin to change about justice in Nunavut.

“You need people serious and committed about doing something in their communities,” she said. “It’s going to take a while.”

More work for JPs

Though the issue is not addressed in the bill, the Nunavut Court will rely heavily on the ability of justices of the peace in communities to take on more responsibilities for preliminary inquiries and summary conviction trials.

Born from the desire for change within the judicial system, the Nunavut court is not an Inuit-specific court, but will apply to everyone, irrespective of cultural background.

“There’s been some suggestion that somehow we’re creating a completely different system of law up there and that’s not the case,” said Howard Bebbington, a lawyer in the criminal law policy section of the federal Department of Justice. “We are changing the court structure, but the system of law that will apply in Nunavut will be the same as anywhere else.”

Currently, Nunavut’s only resident judge is Judge Beverly Browne. Based in Iqaluit, she serves within the Baffin region as a territorial court judge.

Territorial court judges for the Keewatin and Kitikmeot travel from Yellowknife. Judges from Yellowknife also serve on the NWT Supreme Court.

On April 1, Judge Browne will become the first judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice.

Federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan, on the recommendation of a Nunavut judicial selection committee, will likely appoint another judge shortly afterwards. The third judge will be appointed within a year.

There will also be a transitional period after April 1 when judges from the Northwest Territories will hear matters in Nunavut, reducing the immediate demand on Nunavut judges.