Court Site Study of Adult Unrepresented Accused in the Provincial Criminal Courts (Part 2: Site Reports)
Chapter 2: Regina (continued)
2.4 Other types of representation
2.4.1 Prevalence of other types of representation
Figure R-4 uses data from the Disposed Cases sample to calculate the type of representation provided by various types of counsel at each stage of the criminal process.
Figure R-4. Disposed Cases: By Type of Representation by Appearance, Type, Regina *
| Appearance | Represented by | Total: All Types of Representation (including self)** | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self (%) | Legal Aid (%) | Private Counsel (%) | Appointed Counsel (%) | ||
| First appearance | 61 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 5322 (100%) |
| Second Appearance (if any) | 32 | 43 | 20 | 6 | 6097 (101%) |
| Third Appearance (if any) | 25 | 46 | 22 | 6 | 5108 (99%) |
| Appearance | Represented by | Total: All Types of Representation (including self)** | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self (%) | Legal Aid (%) | Private Counsel (%) | Appointed Counsel (%) | ||
| Bail | 72 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 1288 (100%) |
| Plea | 22 | 49 | 22 | 8 | 5125 (100%) |
| Defence Election | 9 | 56 | 34 | 2 | 815 (100%) |
| Final Appearance | 21 | 50 | 22 | 7 | 6829 (100%) |
Notes
-
* Excludes cases for which representation information is not available.
- ** Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
The Figure suggests that:
- Legal Aid assisted a little under a fifth of all accused at first appearance and the appearance at which bail is considered.
- Legal Aid assisted approximately half of all accused at plea, defence elections, and final appearance.
- Private counsel assisted a significant proportion of accused at all stages other than bail – from almost a fifth of all accused at first appearance to over a third of accused at defence elections. Given the small number of legal aid certificates issued (less than 1,000 annually for the entire province), it seems apparent that most of the private bar members appearing in criminal court in Regina were privately retained and reimbursed. The relatively low incidence of private counsel appearing at bail hearings may suggest something about the economic circumstances of those who are initially detained by police.
- There was found a surprising number of cases of counsel appointed by the court, fully 7 percent of all cases at final appearance, or 479 cases. This suggests that the courts were reluctant to see as many accused unrepresented as would otherwise have occurred; and perhaps also that significant numbers of accused were so unco-operative with Legal Aid that they were ultimately turned away.
Next, Figure R-5 shows different types of representation at the final appearance, in cases where the most serious offences were charged.[11] It suggests that:
- The offences that had a higher frequency of Legal Aid representation were homicide, break and enter, robbery, and "other federal statutes."
- The offences that had a lower frequency of Legal Aid representation were public order offences (such as public disturbances, prostitution and gaming), impaired driving, and simple drug possession.
- The offences that had a higher frequency of private counsel representation were homicide, sexual assaults, impaired driving, drug offences, and public order offences.
- The offences that had a higher frequency of appointed counsel representation were impaired driving, weapons offences, thefts and frauds, and "other federal statutes."
| Most Serious Charge Category | Proportion of Cases represented by | Number of Cases |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self | Legal Aid |
Private Counsel |
Appointed Counsele |
||
| Homicide | 0 | 69 | 31 | 0 | 16 (100 %) |
| Sexual Assault | 4 | 56 | 37 | 2 | 91 (99 %) |
| Assaults excl. Common | 14 | 51 | 30 | 5 | 940 (100 %) |
| Robbery | 6 | 66 | 23 | 5 | 128 (100 %) |
| Break and Enter | 10 | 67 | 20 | 3 | 437 (100 %) |
| Impaired Driving | 32 | 24 | 36 | 8 | 756 (100 %) |
| Common Assault | 23 | 46 | 24 | 7 | 572 (100 %) |
| Drugs excl. Simple Possession | 11 | 42 | 44 | 2 | 88 (100 %) |
| Weapons Offences | 17 | 47 | 27 | 9 | 97 (100 %) |
| Thefts and Frauds | 20 | 56 | 15 | 8 | 1 293 (99 %) |
| Simple Possession of Drugs | 33 | 29 | 35 | 3 | 75 (100 %) |
| Offences against Administration of Justice |
23 | 55 | 15 | 7 | 1 737 (100 %) |
| Public Order | 26 | 37 | 34 | 3 | 165 (100 %) |
| Miscellaneous Criminal Code | 34 | 42 | 17 | 6 | 221 (99 %) |
| Other Federal Statutes | 14 | 62 | 16 | 8 | 213 (100 %) |
| Total | 21 | 50 | 22 | 7 | 6 829 (100 %) |
Notes
* Excludes cases for which representation at final appearance was unspecified in the file.
[11] The Appendix at the end of this chapter lists the types of individual offences included within each of the offence categories.
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