Sudbury to host weekend and statutory holiday court

The provincial government has chosen Greater Sudbury Police Headquarters to host weekend and statutory holiday court, also known as W.A.S.H. court, in the new year. It means people in northeastern Ontario won't have to wait for the courts to reopen to get a bail hearing.

Deputy police chief Allan Lekun compares the new responsibility to a dual edged sword, as it may speed up the justice process, but will cost police an extra $100,000 in staffing next year.

"That's a cost that is borne by the police service and by the taxpayers of Greater Sudbury," he said.

Lekun said bail hearings may come from police services in Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, West Nipissing, Timmins, Ontario Provincial Police jurisdictions as well as First Nation policing jurisdictions that are in the detachment area. Sudbury was likely chosen to host weekend and statutory holiday court because it is the largest police organization in northeastern Ontario, he said.

"From a modernization process it makes sense. It really does expand the access to bail hearings for individuals in custody, and so that makes perfect sense," he said.

"But with it comes staffing issues that our police service has to bear. And so it's a matter of us moving forward knowing that we're not going to get remuneration, but we have been working towards determining if there will be efficiencies in the system down the road because of being able to run WASH courts on weekends."

Municipalities already 'cash strapped'

Sudbury lawyer Martin Bayer said the change will improve the justice system, but questioned why the municipality is footing the bill.

"Anytime you can speed that process of releasing people for a lot of routine charges, that's just better for the client," he said.

"Those costs should not be simply shifted to the municipalities, who are already cash strapped."

However, the executive director of the John Howard Society in Sudbury said it's important to show the criminal justice system doesn't stop on Friday at 5 p.m.

"It actually can cut down on all kinds of overcrowding that's going on in detention cells and in custody facilities because people won't be using cells that maybe they would've received bail anyway on a Monday," he said.

"Indeed some people will now be working weekends, but that's part of the process of how our world is moving and how people work now."

In a statement, Ontario Court of Justice representative Jill Arthur said the change will ensure weekend and holiday bail proceedings in northeastern Ontario will proceed expeditiously and effectively.

As for the cost to pay for the service, Lekun said the force will look for efficiencies.

"The other side of it is from a criminal justice modernization process is it allows enhanced access of in custody matters to be addressed in bail, and what that means is individuals will get released on Saturdays and Sundays because they are able to go through a bail hearing on the weekends," he said.

"What we hope we see is that there will be less bail matters to be heard on Mondays and Tuesdays, and perhaps lessen the resource stresses on those days for bail. So there could be some benefits down the road, but we'll have to continue with our analysis to see if they come to fruition."