Youth Court Processing Times Reduced to Meet Nunn Recommendation

Cases of young people in trouble with the law in Nova Scotia are now being processed within 89 days on average from their first appearance in youth court to their sentence or acquittal.

An update released today, June 25, shows the province is exceeding its case-processing time target of 98 days. The target was set in response to Commissioner Merlin Nunn's recommendation in December 2006 to improve process time for youth cases. The processing time was 134 days in 2004 and 2005.

"I'm very impressed that we've exceeded the target we set," said Justice Minister and Attorney General Cecil Clarke. "Not only will this keep our communities safer, but research shows that youth offenders have a better understanding of how their behaviour leads to serious consequences if those consequences happen as soon after the offence as possible."

Strategies underway to help the department continue to meet the target include:

• Additional police officers, acting as youth court liaison officers, who will be in place in the fall to help further streamline youth cases.

• A scanning project which is in development and will be implemented in the fall to give courts faster access to documents.

The Department of Justice has completed, or nearly completed, all 25 Nunn Commission recommendations related to the department. The department will continue to monitor and report on progress twice a year.

The update can be viewed on the department's website at www.ns.gov.ca/just .