Guest Speaker Hugh Stansfield

This week we were honored to have the Honorable Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of BC, Judge Hugh Stansfield as our speaker. He explained our court system with the Provincial Court (People's Court) having 100,000 cases annually. Even with 134 full time judges the process time is too long. The judges do too much of the mundane stuff and they should have others do the leg work. A Community Court is in the process of being set up here and it will deal with the less serious types of crime. With a lot of property crimes the individual has both mental health issues and drug abuse problems. The Community Court will look at the individual's life and try to help with their issues. Hugh visited the Community Court in operation in New York City and both the rate of recidivism and minor crime have decreased. Hugh felt that the whole community of Vancouver must take responsibility for those who are mentally challenged and or addicted to drugs. Overal crime in Canada is on the decline. Restorative justice - getting the victim and offender together- has seen good results. Notes this week by Mary Watson.