Five years ago, Ontario’s Auditor General recommended that the province begin tracking why criminal charges are withdrawn by prosecutors or stayed by judges – to help reduce costs and ensure that files progress efficiently through the system despite backlogs.

But despite larger backlogs due to the pandemic and a growing number of stayed and withdrawn charges, Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General has refused to trace those reasons.

The recommendations come from a 2019 audit of the province’s criminal justice system, and were reiterated by Auditor General Shelley Spence this summer.

“If you don’t know, you can’t do it,” Spence told the province’s standing committee on justice policy in August.

“We always encourage (the department) to capture the data in a way that makes sense … so that they can actually do something with that analysis to solve the problem and expedite cases. But what we’re seeing is that the situation does not improve.

Recent data on criminal charge outcomes in Ontario shows most cases ended in charges have been withdrawn, suspended, dismissed or released before a decision at trial since 2020. In 2022-23, the latest fiscal year for which data is available, 56 percent ended this way – an increase of 14 percent since 2013 -14, when guilty decisions still make up most of the outcomes.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Auditor General said the recommendations were aimed at speeding the progress of cases through the system and reducing costs caused by delays when charges are withdrawn because there is no prospect reasonable sentence.

As for suspended cases, the reasons for them would help the department understand whether the delays were due to the availability of the prosecutor, the disclosure of evidence, the trial date or the defense attorney.

Last year, the ministry told a provincial committee that the effort and costs associated with reviewing the judge’s written decisions, transcripts or audio recordings of proceedings to determine all grounds for a stay of charges, as recommended, “would not provide value for money “.

Regarding the reasons for withdrawing the charges, the ministry told the Auditor General that pursuing them would not benefit the administration of justice and “may impact the judgment of prosecutors.”

CBC Toronto asked the ministry how it plans to understand which parties and factors have the greatest impact on criminal charges withdrawn by prosecutors and stayed by judges if it does not have aggregate data on those decisions.

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In a statement, a spokesperson said the department’s internal tracking system allows prosecutors to record the specific reason for a stay and the reasons for withdrawals at the individual case level, which can then be reviewed by managers of the Crown.

But the broader monitoring recommended by the auditor general “would risk impacting prosecutors’ ability to evaluate each case individually on its merits,” spokeswoman Alexandra Wilkes said.

“To meet the intent of the Auditor’s recommendation, the Department continues to implement and explore initiatives that will reduce the number of cases that may result in removal and reduce the average number of days to removal of an accusation.”

In order to manage the progress of criminal cases and avoid suspensions, the release also explains how the ministry’s internal systems track the number of months criminal cases are in court so prosecutors know if a person is at risk to respect the deadlines set by the Supreme Court. Court of Canada.

But knowing the reasons for stays and withdrawals is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Shakir Rahim of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

He says Ontario needs to do even more.

“We’re fortunate to be in a jurisdiction that has the resources to invest in these kinds of initiatives, and it just needs to be done,” Rahim, director of the association’s criminal justice program, told CBC Toronto.

“What we’re missing here is people sitting around a table, having a clear goal – that we need better data on the system – and working together to get there.”

In its statement, the ministry reiterated the $29 million it has invested this year to appoint at least 25 new judges to the Ontario Court of Justice and hire 190 additional Crown prosecutors, as well as court staff. support for victims and court staff to help avoid cases being suspended due to delay and monitor “an increasing number of complex cases”.

The department also said it is working to have police officers use their discretion to refer people to diversion programs more often to prevent charges for minor offenses from entering the court system.