To the editor,
Tim Bousquet was spot-on about the importance of transparency and
public access to government records in last week’s cover feature,
“Public secrets.” The challenge is balancing individual privacy rights
with the public’s right to know.
As the court administrator of Halifax Provincial Court on Spring
Garden Road, I was sorry to read about Tim’s difficulty in obtaining
information about criminal court records. Any individual, whether they
are a journalist or not, can walk into the Spring Garden Road
courthouse, or any other courthouse in the province, and request court
staff to provide information about a criminal proceeding. On a daily
basis court dockets are posted. The dockets list names of the adult
accused and charges being faced. All daytime and nighttime trials are
open to the public, and if desired, anyone can order and purchase a CD
of court proceedings. In the courthouse we have a media room from which
reporters can file copy.
I know court staff are hard-working and truly see themselves as
public servants. In serving the public, we continually balance openness
and transparency with privacy rights of individuals.
In Canada, all criminal cases, except when publication bans are
ordered or other legislation restrictions apply (i.e. young person
files), are open to the pubic. Only through the openness of our courts
can timely public access exist and enable accurate print, radio and
television media coverage. Only through accurate and timely reporting
of judicial proceedings can we ensure that the public knows what is
happening in our criminal courts. This ensures that the judicial system
does its job properly. Without openness in our justice system we are
not, and cannot be, a truly democratic society.
—Peter E. James, court administrator,
Halifax Provincial Court
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2009.
