It’s the turn of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions to have to tighten his belt due to budgetary restrictions in Quebec, which worries prosecutors who fear not being able to accuse as many criminals.
• Also read: Freezing the recruitment of public service employees
“What crimes are we going to stop authorizing? Drugs, weapons, sexual assault files? We are already pushed to avoid unreasonable delays, the judiciary has demands of us…” laments a crown prosecutor from greater Montreal, on condition of anonymity.
Like those who agreed to share their concerns, she is not authorized to speak to the media about this topic.
Due to the hiring freeze in effect since Friday, prosecutors on sick leave or parental leave will not be replaced.
A few days ago, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, Mr.e Patrick Michel sent a notice to his troops to inform them that the Treasury Board was cutting spending.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
Consequence: no new prosecutor will be hired. And those who are not regular employees risk not having their contract renewed.
Impact on victims
For example, in Longueuil, a team of prosecutors specializing in domestic violence could soon lose almost half of its players since some are not permanent employees and others will leave for parental leave. And it is feared that they will have to manage like this until further notice.
For all DPCP offices in Quebec, around thirty jobs would be at risk, we learned.
This could therefore have a major impact on victims of crime. First, because there could be fewer authorized charges, but also because ongoing cases could be abandoned, due to deadlines to be respected.
Others also fear not being able to properly support the victims.
The overtime that prosecutors often have to work to successfully complete their increasingly complex cases would also be limited.
This freeze, which targets regular and casual jobs for all employment groups, is inevitable, confirmed Me Annabelle Sheppard, spokesperson for the DPCP.
“The DPCP has the obligation to respect the budgetary envelopes allocated to it, and in this context, it must ensure optimal and rigorous management of its expenses in order to maintain services to citizens,” she said in adding that “the situation is being monitored carefully” to “identify the measures to be taken” in order to continue to accuse and convict criminals.
“All of this is going to have an impact,” explained a prosecutor on condition of anonymity. Already everyone is out of breath, the stress has increased even more. And we know that if we fall off work, we will not be replaced, others will have to add work. »
Everything goes
And ironically, this budgetary rigor risks slowing down the progress of cases even further since, as prosecutors will be overwhelmed, they will have less time to try to resolve cases with defense lawyers.
“Meeting in person encourages discussions and the progress of cases,” said another prosecutor, who fears harmful effects both in the short and long term.
Furthermore, the budget cuts are such that several penny-pinching savings have been noted, including the absence of pencils or envelopes made available to DPCP employees.
Some may also have to share copies of the Criminal Codethe bible for lawyers, essential to their work.
Travel costs and certain training could also be covered by prosecutors, we learned.
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