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 J U L Y 2 0 1 7 7 T he first drug court in Newfound- land and Labrador is slated to open next year in the provincial capital. The Department of Jus- tice and Public Safety has announced a pilot project to assist offenders with serious drug addictions who commit non-violent, drug-motivated offences. "It is a therapeutic court. It offers a different approach for the remedies an individual may be able to seek," says John Duggan, a lawyer in St. John's and co-chairman of the advisory committee appointed by the government to com- plete a feasibility study on the issue. Generally, drug treatment courts aim to reduce the number of crimes committed to support drug addictions. They do this by bringing together treatment services for substance abuse and the criminal justice system to deal more effectively with drug-addicted offenders. The new court, which will cost roughly $120,000 to implement, will also share a foundation for account- ability with traditional courts. Eligible offenders must first plead guilty before they will be accepted into the program, which usually runs between 14 and 18 months. At the conclusion of the pro- gram, which includes counselling, drug testing and regular court appearances, sentencing occurs. "The goal is to keep the person in the program until they graduate. Then they return to court on the original plea," notes Duggan, former deputy director of legal services with the New- foundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission. The drug court's focus on treatment will not only help individuals address their addiction issues, it will also stand them in good stead when they finally return to court. "From a practising lawyer's point of view, you want to have a judge who has lots of tools in their toolbox when it comes to sentencing," Duggan says. "I see it as a win-win." Two DOJ staff members visited four Canadian drug courts in Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Ottawa and Kentville, N.S. to identify best practices and outcomes. Savings can be significant, according to the $30,000 feasibility study, Drug Treatment Court Feasibil- ity Study: An Opportunity for Hope. Research indicates financial savings can range anywhere from 20 per cent to 88 per cent if incarceration is involved and that upwards of 80 per cent of all federal offenders have had a substance abuse problem. The new court, which will be housed in the provincial court building in St. John's, will run as a pilot program for approximately two years. — DONALEE MOULTON REGIONAL WRAP-UP AT L A N T I C \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ P R A I R I E S \ W E S T Drug court to launch in N.L. N.B. COMPENSATION FUND HIT HARD L awyers in New Brunswick will have to dig deeper into their wallets next year to help replenish what is anticipated to be a significantly depleted compensation fund. At present, members of the provincial bar pay $20 annually for the fund. That figure will likely rise to $115, says Shirley MacLean, deputy executive director of the Law Society of New Brunswick in Fredericton. That is, she acknowledges, "a big jump." The reason for the increase, expected to last for at least four years, is a large payout currently looming before the society. In its monthly newsletter, the LSNB notes that it has "received a number of claims against the Compensation Fund as a result of the apparent dishonesty of a New Brunswick lawyer." It is anticipated that more than $730,000 will have to be paid out to multiple claimants for the misdeeds of that one lawyer. (Although the LSNB cannot name the lawyer, CBC News has identified him as Yassin Choukri, a former deputy justice minister who was suspended from practising law and is accused of defrauding clients.) The anticipated payout is the largest in at least 20 years, MacLean says. In 2015, the society paid out $30,000, the largest amount ever awarded to one individual. Under the terms of its insurance coverage, the society has a maxi- mum deductible of $500,000. The compensation fund currently has roughly $1.1 million in funds. — DM IT IS A THERAPEUTIC COURT. IT OFFERS A DIFFERENT APPROACH FOR THE REMEDIES AN INDIVIDUAL MAY BE ABLE TO SEEK JOHN DUGGAN

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