News release

Crown Attorney To Deal with Regulatory Offences

Public Prosecution Service

PUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE--Crown Attorney To Deal with Regulatory Offences


The Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service will dedicate a Crown attorney exclusively to the prosecution of provincial regulatory offences, Attorney General Michael Baker said today, April 26.

"This is an important initiative designed to enhance the Public Prosecution Service's expertise in provincial regulatory prosecutions," said Mr. Baker.

He said the Crown attorney will concentrate initially on Occupational Health and Safety offences and will serve as an in- house resource for other Nova Scotia Crown attorneys involved in Occupational Health and Safety and other regulatory offence prosecutions.

The decision to assign a Crown attorney exclusively to regulatory offence prosecutions was a joint resolve of the Public Prosecution Service and the Department of Environment and Labour. Each organization wants to enhance the way these cases are handled both at the investigation and prosecution stages.

"We're extremely pleased that the Occupational Health and Safety Act will be the initial focus of the special prosecutor," said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. "Every time a business or individual is charged with health and safety violations, others are reminded of the financial consequences but, more importantly, of the impact on the day-to-day lives of victims and their family and friends."

The volume and complexity of Occupational Health and Safety Act offences will limit the number of major cases the Crown attorney will handle annually on a solo basis. But this dedicated Crown attorney will partner with other Crown attorneys across the province to conduct a number of major regulatory prosecutions and a few additional cases identified as being of medium significance or difficulty. Prosecutions not identified as major cases will generally be prosecuted by Crown attorneys in the regions where the cases arise.

The dedicated Crown attorney will be available for consultations with all Crown attorneys who are involved in the prosecution of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and other regulatory offences. The dedicated Crown attorney may also participate in post-trial debriefings between Department of Environment and Labour investigators and Crown attorneys.

The Crown attorney will also identify and promote training and educational opportunities for both Crown attorneys and Environment and Labour investigators involved in regulatory prosecutions. Increased education will help improve the quality of both inspections and prosecution services, ensuring that the cases going forward to the courts will meet the criteria the courts demand. The Department of Environment and Labour will also continue to promote safe and healthy workplaces by targeting inspections towards businesses or industry sectors where the risk or experience of injury is highest.

The Public Prosecution Service will receive an additional $100,000 in provincial funding to implement this initiative.

In addition to more than 35,000 criminal cases, the Public Prosecution Service's 88 Crown attorneys last year handled more than 4,800 provincial regulatory offence prosecutions. About 50 of these were violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.