Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A P R I L 2 0 1 6 7 N ew Brunswick's Court of Queen's Bench is getting a reputation for being hard on jurors. Thirty-three prospec- tive jurors who failed to show up in the Dennis Oland second-degree murder trial were subsequently called before Justice John Walsh to explain their absence. More than half were each fined $300. "If everybody decided they didn't have to come, the system would col- lapse," said Walsh, who pointed out that there are only two things the govern- ment can force its citizens to do: one is pay taxes; the other is show up for jury duty. Walsh met individually with each juror in a separate courtroom to hear the reasons for their absence and to determine if these were acceptable under the province's Jury Act. Some of those excuses were deemed reasonable, and those prospective jurors were excused, according to local media reports. Among those who got to go home without a fine were one woman who had emergency surgery — and the hospital paperwork to prove it. Another man had been denied the time off to attend the trial by his employer (and was subsequently fired from his job freeing up his calendar, but too late for trial). Among the excuses that did not go over well with the court were oversleep- ing and forgetfulness. While Walsh said he appreciated the honesty of the man who admitted he simply didn't remem- ber his civic duty, he still fined him. The court had less tolerance for the woman who said she was convinced Oland was guilty, so she didn't bother to show up for jury duty. Although fines were handed down to 18 individuals, the number could have been much higher. For the murder trial, which captured media attention across the country, nearly 5,000 individuals were called for potential jury duty. Although the 18 individuals who had to pay $300 may have, on the surface, been unlucky in law, their punishment was much less than it could have been. New Brunswick's Jury Act allows for a maximum fine of $1,000 "or any other penalty that a judge of the Court may impose in contempt proceed- ings." Walsh is not the first Maritime judge to lose patience with prospective jurors who fail to appear as ordered. A few years ago in Nova Scotia, the issue became so serious the chief justice of the Supreme Court sent sheriffs after 95 no-shows. "Ask them to bring their toothbrushes," Chief Justice Joseph Kennedy told sheriffs as they readied to round up the missing individuals. In that case, 129 jurors had put in an appearance as dictated. However, 40 per cent didn't bother to show up at all, an unacceptable number, Kennedy said in court. "Either we're going to do away with jury trials or we're going to do something about no-shows. And we are not going to do away with jury trials." Taking a hard line on no-shows is familiar territory in Newfoundland and Labrador, which is believed to have one of the lowest jury absentee rates in the country. Almost a decade ago, Justice James Adams jailed a group of individ- uals that failed to appear for jury duty. — DONALEE MOULTON donalee@quantumcommunications.ca REGIONAL WRAP-UP AT L A N T I C \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T Jury no-shows pay $300 fi ne AFRICAN NOVA SCOTIANS GET HELP TO LEGALLY CLAIM THEIR LAND H ome is where the heart is, and lawyers in Nova Scotia have stepped for- ward to help residents in three African Nova Scotia communities get a clear title to their property. As part of a new initiative launched by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society, the Department of Natural Resources, and two other partners, residents of East Preston, North Preston, and Cherry Brook, N.S., will receive free legal advice about how to legally claim their family homestead. "It's a lot of work and takes time, but a new process is in place for a pilot project assisted by lawyers volunteering their time," said NSBS executive direc- tor Darrel Pink. The issue of ownership dates back to the 1800s when Black Loyalists were given land in the North Preston area but not the deeds to those properties (unlike white settlers). Now, two centuries later, many homeowners do not have clear title to their property even though the land has been in the family, some- times for as long as 200 years. According to the North Preston Land Recovery Initiative, approximately one- third of properties in the community of roughly 3,700 are not legally deeded to residents even though they pay taxes on those properties. In 1963, a legisla- tive process was put in place to clear up land title and land ownership issues for residents in 13 communities across the province. Residents in these Land Title Clarification Areas were able to come forward and provide information to the Continued on page 8

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