Canadian Lawyer

12 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m "W e've got to try some- thing else. What we're doing is not working." That's the matter- of-fact way Calgary Police Staff Sergeant Frank Cattoni explains the idea behind what is sometimes called a problem-solv- ing court or more commonly a community court. Cattoni is one of the catalysts behind a broad coalition of government and pri- vate organizations in Calgary that is trying to find a new way to tackle the old problem of what to do with repeat low-level, gener- ally non-violent offenders. The community court idea got its start in New York City in the early 1990s and has been spreading ever since. Numerous cities around the United States as well as in England and Australia have now adopted their own models. In Canada, the only city, so far, to institute a commu- nity court is Vancouver. It started as an experiment in 2008 and continues today. Community courts address a com- mon problem. Typically, "social disor- der" offenders have mental and other health issues exacerbated by homeless- ness and addictions. Consequently, they keep cycling through the criminal justice system. There are some estimates that the overall cost to the system in time, health care, correctional and temporary housing resources can add up to millions for a single individual caught in an often never-ending chain of arrest, incarcera- tion, release and arrest again. In Calgary, Cattoni and a diverse group of more than 20 organizations and influen- tial people including Assistant Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta James Ogle have helped form a group with the working title Community Justice Collab- orative. For about two years, it has been working on a community court proposal to take to the municipal and provincial governments. "The committee's approach at this point," says Ogle, is to "provide a viable, workable framework of possibility, present it to government and ask the government to consider its choices. Decisions would have to be made including financial decisions." The committee hopes to have its pro- posals to government before the end of the year. Would such a court be acceptable to people who have been the victims of petty but extremely annoying crimes, such as shoplifting, vandalism, car break- ins or bylaw infractions? "The idea," says Criminal Defence Lawyers Association president Ian Savage, "is to show people a worthwhile result can be achieved . . . as opposed to throwing someone with a homeless, mental health or addictions problem into jail for 30 days then turning them back out on the street to commit the same crime again." Community courts in other jurisdic- tions deal with primarily non-violent crime and try to find swift, constructive solutions. They not only dish out community service sentences, they look to provide the addic- tion, health and social service counsel- ling that may help the often marginalized offenders deal with the root cause of their crimes. The object is to reduce petty crime and cut the number of re-offenders. Gabriel Chen, a lawyer with Calgary Legal Guidance, an organization that helps low-income people access the law, was cau- tious about the proposals at first but is now an advocate. He has visited the community courts in New York and Vancouver, meet- ing with judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers. "Up to this point everything has been slow," he says. "But now it's picking up steam and I am looking forward to the pilot going ahead maybe sooner than I thought." — GEOFF ELLWAND LSBC TO HAVE DISCRETION WHEN SHARING LAWYER COMPLAINTS WITH FIRM REPRESENTATIVES \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ N O RT H \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP A recommendation in the second interim report by the Law Society of B.C.'s task force on firm registration gives the LSBC discretion when sharing complaint information about a lawyer with the firm's designated represen- tative under the proposed firm registration system. "The question of whether the law society should have discretion in sharing, or conversely, not sharing information with the lawyer's firm has been controversial," reads the 145-page report, which will seek LSBC bencher approval this fall. David Jordan, LSBC spokesman, said in an email that when there is a complaint regarding a lawyer, the LSBC, under current rules, can only share that information with that lawyer. But not all information regarding complaints is shared with lawyers. In 2016, the law society closed 1,142 complaints. Of these, 294 — or 25.7 per cent — of complaints were closed as unsubstantiated and the subject lawyer would not have been notified. The second interim report recommended: "The Law Society is authorized to share information about a lawyer with the firm's designated representative when there is concern about the lawyer's conduct within the firm. The Law Society will exercise this Calgary's legal community exploring a different kind of court W E S T

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