Tourist courts to be used for foreigners involved in minor crimes during Games

[Harvey Specter]

Foreign visitors involved in minor crimes during the Olympics will be fast-tracked to trial in tourist court within two weeks of an incident, a government official said Thursday.

The “Olympic expedited court,” as it’s being called, will deal with less serious crimes such as simple assault, impaired driving, theft under $5,000, credit card fraud, prostitution-related offences and simple possession of marijuana, said Neil MacKenzie, communications counsel for the criminal justice branch, an arm of the Attorney-General’s Ministry that oversees criminal prosecutions in B.C.

“It’s essentially an expedited process to deal with less serious criminal matters that may arise during the Olympic period involving out-of-province and particularly foreign accused or witnesses,” he said.

The process is designed to prevent foreign visitors from having to stay in Canada longer than they intended, or from having to return for a trial after they have left the country.

The aim is to get trials that will take a day or less in court heard within two weeks of the criminal incident, he said.

A number of agencies designed the system, including the federal and provincial Crown prosecution services, police, the judiciary, court services administration, sheriffs, corrections and legal aid.

A list of available defence lawyers has been created for foreign visitors who do not qualify for legal aid.

Police are expected to initially flag cases involving out-of-province or foreign visitors to the Olympics and the first court appearance is expected to be set for 2 p.m. the next day, MacKenzie said.

“Court services will then identify the file so it will be processed to appear on the court list. If it’s a guilty plea, it can be dealt with relatively quickly,” he said. “If it’s a matter that’s going to trial, an attempt will be made to have the matter set for trial within two weeks, if it is a short trial.”

MacKenzie said Olympic expedited courts are expected to operate in every jurisdiction in the Metro Vancouver area, with each jurisdiction dealing with minor crimes in the city where they occur.

The exception will be Whistler, he said, which normally has minor criminal cases heard in the nearby communities of Squamish or Pemberton.

During the Olympics, an expedited Olympic court in North Vancouver will deal with minor crimes from Whistler.

It was announced earlier that criminal trials involving police witnesses would not proceed during the Olympics period because police and sheriffs, who provide courtroom security across the province, will be assigned to Olympic security duties.

But police will be called if necessary at Olympic expedited court trials, MacKenzie said.

He also pointed out that the courts will not be closed but will be dealing with more civil trials and family law matters. “There are still being trials set if they don’t involve police witnesses,” he said.

MacKenzie said no budget or specific cost has been set for the expedited Olympic court protocol.

“It’s just something we’re doing,” he said. “It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime situation and unusual steps are being taken to accommodate that.”

Asked why such efforts couldn’t be taken year round to get minor crimes to trial within two weeks, he said the courts are usually booked to overcapacity but the suspension of most criminal trials during the Olympics meant there was room to accommodate an expedited Olympic court process.

Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said Thursday that police are not expecting to see a huge spike in crime during the Olympics period.

“We’re cautiously optimistic there will be a decrease,” he said.

He pointed out that the Vancouver police department has 1,327 officers and there will be close to another 7,000 RCMP and municipal police officers coming from across Canada to provide policing during the Olympics.

“People can expect to see a very enhanced police presence in the downtown core,” Houghton said. “People can expect if they break the law, we’ll be there to enforce that.”

He said police are expecting the Olympics to be similar to the Celebration of Lights fireworks nights, when about 300,000 people congregate in downtown Vancouver.

Up to two million visitors are expected in the city to take part in Olympics events, depending on the weather, he said.

Police expect there will be some minor incidents fuelled by alcohol consumption, but because of the enhanced police presence, don’t expect to see a general increase in crime, Houghton said.

“We want this to be a family event,” he said, adding police are looking forward to welcoming people from around the world.

RCMP Insp. Tim Shields agreed that Mounties do not expect a per-capita increase in crime during the Olympics but admit there may be an increase in minor crime, especially where there are large crowds and alcohol consumption.

Outside the Olympics areas, it will be business as usual for police, he said.

nhall@vancouversun.com

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