Justice committee  Chair, can I raise one potential issue? I was very interested to hear about the struggles in the north, in trying to select a jury, and of course, it paves the way for restorative justice, but there are sections of the Criminal Code that demand a jury trial, murder, for instance, and there are sections of the Criminal Code where the crown must consent to a re-election.

Justice committee  We've moved to a real energized case management system in this country in criminal justice and in civil cases. I think the national steering committee did a paper on case management. A judge will assess the case—that's what we ask them to do—and decide whether it's appropriate to take breaks.

Justice committee  Mr. Rankin, in my other life I spent a great deal of time representing professionals, and there is no question that I would suggest we don't need to amend it because professionals are regulated very strictly. Any doctor who breached the confidentiality of the patient relationship, let alone the Criminal Code, would certainly risk losing their licence.

Justice committee  Not in this country, with great respect to my friends.

Justice committee  We have to be careful about making sure that the case is over before the juror is allowed to have the therapeutic contact. It can't take place prior to sentencing. It should take place when the case is entirely over. Maybe it's after an appeal. I scribbled something on the plane, and I said, this provision does not apply to communications by a member of a jury for the purpose of therapeutic assistance as a result of their experience serving as a jury member.

Justice committee  If we weren't living in an age of social media, if we could control the dissemination of the information.... Let's say, “Who were you talking to?” ...“I was talking to the juror whom I served with on that murder.” ...“What did you talk about?” I just think it's very slippery. It's a problem because we ask jurors to come into the courtroom, take an oath, and then leave.

Justice committee  I just want to say that if we look at some of the major criminal cases in Canada, let's call them the horrific ones that we all probably are familiar with, you probably will find that not very many jurors wanted the help on a continuing basis. I think one of the reasons for that is judges go a long way to break up, for instance, the presentation of graphic evidence.

Justice committee  I do not think it is a good idea to allow a juror, during the course of a trial, to seek outside guidance in relation to the stresses they're having in performing their duty. That's one reason judges may have alternate jurors handy in a major case. The magic of the jury system is that they are able to gather, almost as a family, protected, to make their deliberations.

Justice committee  Thank you very much, Chair and members of the committee. It's an honour to be here once again on behalf of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers. On behalf of the council and as a defence counsel, I think I can say that we are very pleased that the committee is studying the issue of jurors and how to help jurors.

Justice committee  Well no, I care.

Justice committee  It's hard for me to argue those three points, and I'm looking at the wording. I'm saying to myself, does the word “prove” add something? So, I leave that to you.

Justice committee  That to me is an issue that someone much smarter, in terms of statutory interpretation, would say you missed, but this is symbolic.

Justice committee  Here's my answer, with respect, and it may not be as good an answer as you might get from others.

Justice committee  The Criminal Code and the judicial system work, and these factors are taken into consideration. With the greatest respect, we cannot change legislation unless it is absolutely necessary, as a result of tragic, horrible circumstances. You're talking about changing the Criminal Code which will effect the entire country, and is it a precedent here that you might be concerned with?

Justice committee  I can respond to that. A police officer is often available, and crown counsel will ask for an officer to be available if they want to put the officer on the stand to talk about the case.