A judge of New Scotland is ordering the provincial crown to cover a round -trip taxi rate of $ 190 for a accused sexual offender whose hometown court in Windsor, NS, is being closed, forcing its judgment to be heard in a justice center 40 kilometers by car.
The Department of Justice announced last month that it will close the Palace of Justice of Hants County in early July, an installation with a series of problems that include problems with cells and without elevator to the second floor room, a barrier for people who cannot climb stairs.
But in a ruling on Friday, Judge Angela Caseley said that there is no public transport of Windsor to the Justice Center in Kentville, and that Jeffrey Mitchell Wile, 35, does not have the money to get there, or friends or family who can take it.
It means that Wile, who declared himself innocent of sexual interference and is in social assistance, will not be able to reach Kentville to attend his September judgment.
The defense argued that if he loses that date, the judge said, he will probably be arrested with a court order. Even if he is released, he will lose the dates of the future dates of the Court, he will face again and could be stopped waiting for trial.
Muding Kentville’s trial, said Caseley, is “exclusively and directly” the result of the government’s decision to close the Windsor Justice Palace. If Wile is finally acquitted, he said that the defense argued that “it will effectively spend imprisoned time simply because it is poor.”
Wile is represented by legal assistance lawyer Jonathan Hughes.
Caseley said that for 251 years, people living in Hants County, where Windsor is now and now has a population of 45,000 people, have been able to access justice “in their community.”
She commented on the “estimated history” of Nueva Scotia that contributed to three pillars of Canada’s democracy, including the first independent court of the country, the representative government and the freedom of the press.
Prosecutor Nathan Maclean opposed the application for defense of the taxi rate for legal reasons, but agreed the facts surrounding Wile’s difficulty to reach Kentville for the Court.
75 -year -old current palace
The province operates 23 courts in Nueva Scotia. Nine of them, even in Windsor, are “satellite” courts that only work part -time and depend on the employees of the largest court in their area.
The current Windsor Palace is located in the Hants County Court House building, which opened in 1950 and is owned by the municipality of West Hants.
The Windsor site often houses the Provincial Court three days a week. The Supreme Court of New Scotland also program sessions in court.
The spokeswoman of the Department of Justice, Lynette Macleod, said in an email that the officials would review the judge’s decision.
Email says that the Kentville Justice Center serves Kings and Hants County, and is totally accessible, modern and “helps improve access to justice for New Valley’s scotians.”
It was necessary to close the Windsor Justice Palace due to the general condition of the building, according to email. In particular, the detention cells that housed people in custody that appeared in the courts were inspected in January and decided that they should be closed.
There are no plans to open a new court in Windsor.
