Karen Selick (see referenced article) makes a good point about access to justice. It’s a sad commentary on the courts when ordinary citizens in the general public are subjected to security restrictions in their own courthouses. In fact, in Ontario Canada, the jurisdiction in which Ms. Selick practices law, the Courts of Justice Act specifies that the courts are open to the public. In spite of that law the public entering most court houses is subjected now to security searches by the Police. Police are present at all times in the courts. It is not uncommon for litigants to be arrested in the courthouses by the Police for charges having nothing to do with their behaviour in the courts.
Letting the Police vet those entering the courts is a violation of the separation between the Police and Judiciary. In other words Ontario’s courts are Police traps, making them inaccessible to many people who would go to the courts for help or to support those who are going to court. Running a Police gauntlet is hardly an open court system. Indeed, it is much closer to a Star Chamber.
There are, of course, the usual public-safety smoke screens — protecting the public including witnesses from the criminals and terrorists. However, terrorism is a red herring as Ontario’s other public places such as subways and shopping malls receive no such treatment. Protection of the public is the job of the Judiciary, performed according to law by placing known criminals and suspected criminals behind bars. The presumption of innocence is a rule that Police should never be permitted to ignore. As long as the courts are afraid of the general public, they should expect the public to be highly dubious of the courts.
As Ms. Selick points out, the predominant issue bringing the courts into disrepute, and causing most of its problems is family law. Blatant and continuing injustice, harassment, and robbery by the family courts can only result in total breakdown of the respect for the Law; and the resultant tyranny can go either way. Meanwhile Ontario citizens, like those in many other western countries, can expect to increasingly live under the Mubarak/Assad/Soviet/etc. conditions Ontarians despise, blindly believing it could not happen in Ontario.
fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/02/08/karen-selick-your-honour-whats-with-the-bulletproof-glass/
National Post, Feb 8, 2012 – 7:30 AM ET | Last Updated: Feb 7, 2012 7:00 PM ET
Karen Selick: Your honour, what’s with the bulletproof glass?
It’s no wonder courthouses fear the public. These days, people view courts as purveyors of injustice …
Karen Selick is the litigation director for the Canadian Constitution Foundation.