by Peter Leask, QC, Chair

The Mega Trials Working Group (MTWG) was established by the JRTF in the late spring of 2004. Its mandate was to provide advice and information to the Deputy Attorney General on federal/ provincial territorial (FPT) initiatives and reports related to Mega Trials. More importantly, the MTWG was directed to provide the JRTF with recommendations for managing large cases in B.C. The membership of the MTWG included representatives of the Supreme and Provincial Court Judiciary, Crown Counsel (both Provincial and Federal), defence counsel (through a CBA representative), and funding agencies (both provincial AG and LSS representatives). Unfortunately, a number of the original MTWG members have been forced by other commitments to leave the MTWG. We resume our task in the fall of 2005 with the hope that we can retain our current membership through our planned initial reporting date of June 2006.

Problems in the administration of justice caused by Mega Trials have manifested themselves in B.C., the rest of Canada, and throughout the world in the last decade. In July 2003 the JRTF released a paper entitled “Fundamental Change: A Compendium of Potential Justice System Reforms”. At that time the JRTF recognized that steps needed to be taken to address the issue of Mega Trials on a system wide basis, including a consideration of the role of the courts, Crown, the defence bar and the federal and provincial governments in the management of large cases. The basic concern was expressed in the following language from the Report:

The cost of running large criminal cases is an issue of concern in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada. The increasing costs of these few cases represent a considerable drain on the justice system that needs to be addressed. ‘Big case management’ is an area deserving of special emphasis. Although data to support the claim is difficult to come by, many argue that a small number of big cases take up a disproportionate amount of justice system resources, including legal aid resources.

Since the formation of the MTWG, there have been reports on this subject from Quebec and from the FPT Heads of Prosecution Committee.

The MTWG has concentrated so far on examining Mega Trials from the perspective of the different interests represented by its members. We are certainly satisfied that there is a real problem in B.C. affecting resources – court, Crown and state-funded defence – as well as a number of case management issues. We have one important task to accomplish before turning our attention to Draft Recommendations. B.C. has been the site of one of Canada’s largest and most complex Mega Trials – Air India. The MTWG is planning to devote significant time to hearing from the major participants in the Air India case. The goal is to seek to extract valuable insights for the future from the direct experience of those involved. Our present plan is to use the fall of 2005 to hear from Air India participants and to spend the spring of 2006 developing a “made in B.C.” approach to the management of Mega Trials.

This article was published in the October 2005 issue of BarTalk. © 2005 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.