CTV Interview With Canada's Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin gave a rare television interview Sunday on the CTV network program Question Period in which she discussed court backlogs and delays:

"To ease the judicial process along, McLachlin suggested that more pre-trial planning could take place so prosecutors and judges can review resources and try to anticipate problems before they occur."

In the interview, she also talked about the impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that was adopted 30 years ago.

Earlier Library Boy posts on Chief Justice McLachlin's involvement in access to justice issues include:

• Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell Leads Access to Justice Initiative (August 20, 2012): "As chair of the national Action Committee on Access to Civil and Family Justice, Justice Cromwell oversees an ad hoc group broadly representative of the legal community across Canada, including judges, the organized Bar, legal regulators, legal aid plans, pro bono plans, court administrators, academics, and the deputy justice ministers for Alberta and Canada (...) The impetus for this unprecedented national initiative to improve 'access to justice' came four years ago from Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who raised a red flag about middle-income Canadians’ inability to afford lawyers." 
• New Reports Released by National Action Committee on Access to Justice (September 5, 2012): "The National Action Committee is a broad-based committee established by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin. It is chaired by Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell. Members of the committee include the Canadian Bar Association, Justice Canada, and the Canadian Judicial Council. It works to identify ways to reduce barriers to access to the civil justice system."