Oh, the irony! Justice of the Peace Paul Harris told Tamara Lich last Friday, July 8, “Your detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.”.However, by deciding to keep her in jail for at least another week, the JP has single-handedly undermined many Canadians’ confidence in the administration of justice — including mine. .The oral decision given by JP Harris raises many questions. First, why did he not release written reasons at the same time? I’ve asked the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), the organization providing Tamara’s legal defence, for a copy of the written decision, only to be told as of Saturday that they don’t have it, and don’t even know if there is one yet..JP Harris heard the case on Monday, July 4, and reserved his decision to Friday, July 8. What was he doing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, if not preparing his written decision? Performing weddings? Or was he consulting with unknown people behind the scenes regarding what he should say? Clearly, he had something ready for court on July 8, because he gave his decision orally, so why not follow the usual practice of releasing written reasons at the same time, especially for a high-profile case such as this..I searched the CanLII database for written decisions penned by JP Harris since his appointment in 2017, but was unable to find a single one. It appears he's not given to writing much. We may have to await the production of a transcript for purposes of appeal in order to be really certain of what he said..While many news stories mention Tamara’s next court appearance will be on July 14, I haven’t seen any indicating why she’s returning that day and what issue will be dealt with then. It looks as though we’ll all have to wait, mystified, to find out..Meanwhile, I couldn’t help wondering: “Who is Justice of the Peace Paul Harris anyhow?” According to the government of Ontario bulletin that was issued at the time of his appointment, he doesn’t have a law degree or any legal experience. He ordinarily sits in Cornwall, not Ottawa. He was appointed in June, 2017 along with 12 other new JPs. While most of the other appointees were either lawyers or had significant backgrounds relating to law and courts, Justice Harris’ qualifications were that he had worked for the federal government for 16 years, the last seven of which he spent managing procurement policy and reporting at Parks Canada. As well, he had mentored youth through Trust 15, a Toronto-area charity. These qualifications don’t inspire confidence in me that he has a solid grasp of legal principles such as, for instance, the presumption of innocence..Keep in mind his decision effectually imposed a prison term on someone who hasn’t yet been tried for the offences she is accused of and is legally entitled to be presumed innocent until her guilt is proven. Yes, there is a reverse onus for breach of a bail condition, but the penalty JP Harris imposed is vastly disproportionate to the breach alleged — namely, a three-second interaction with Tom Marazzo in the presence of other people, possibly including her counsel. The probability they plotted a further convoy in that time period is zero..Unlike some other provinces, Ontario doesn’t require a justice of the peace to be a lawyer or to have any prior knowledge of law. A community college degree and 10 years of work — even volunteer work — are sufficient qualifications..Even the Toronto Star, whose editorial positions I ordinarily disagree with, sees some problems with this situation. Its 2016 article on this subject quoted one lawyer as saying that when JPs have little or no prior knowledge of the judicial system “… their default position is to do whatever the Crown suggests, which is detention or sort of this mindless imposition of unduly restrictive and unjustified bail conditions.”.This brings me to crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee, whose conduct towards Tamara does seem to me to fall into the “mindless” and “unduly restrictive” category..Karimjee is the guy who insisted back in May even agreeing to accept the JCCF’s award constituted a breach of bail conditions. He then had to be cautioned by Justice Phillips — the judge who amended Tamara’s bail conditions so she could attend the JCCF award ceremony — to mind his demeanour. Karimjee demanded Justice Phillips recuse himself for bias, which the judge justifiably refused. Further details of Karimjee’s courtroom antics on that occasion are here..Karimjee also reportedly used other flamboyant language in court while representing the government on the case. For instance, he referred to Lich as having “kicked in the mouth” the previous “gift” of the amendment of her bail conditions. He referred to the convoy’s presence in Ottawa as the “occupation” of the city. And he spoke of the residents of Ottawa as “helpless victims”..I looked up Karimjee in the Law Society of Ontario’s directory and discovered his office address is 161 Elgin Street in Ottawa. The injunction that was granted in February against trucker honking was for “the vicinity of downtown Ottawa, being any streets north of Highway 417.”.Mr. Karimjee’s office is in the zone covered by the injunction. Was he personally bothered by the honking during the Freedom Convoy’s presence in the city? Does he see himself as one of the “helpless victims” on whose behalf he is seeking to punish Tamara? .The Law Society’s Rules of Professional Conduct say when acting as a prosecutor, “… the lawyer's prime duty is not to seek to convict, but to see justice is done through a fair trial on the merits. The prosecutor exercises a public function involving much discretion and power and must act fairly and dispassionately.” [Emphasis added]. From what I’ve observed, it appears to be Mr. Karimjee who should recuse himself from this case. .Karimjee’s LinkedIn profile shows he was a criminal defence lawyer, briefly, before jumping to the Crown’s office in October 2000. Apparently he prefers putting people into jail rather than trying to keep them out. Or maybe it was the salary that attracted him — $229,382 last year according to Ontario’s sunshine list. I doubt whether many criminal defence lawyers in private practice earn that much..Historically, it's been very difficult for Canadians to win lawsuits against Crown attorneys or police officers for malicious prosecution or negligent investigation. However, the whole world is turning topsy-turvy these days, and Mr. Karimjee may find it wise to “govern himself accordingly,” as lawyers like to say.
Oh, the irony! Justice of the Peace Paul Harris told Tamara Lich last Friday, July 8, “Your detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.”.However, by deciding to keep her in jail for at least another week, the JP has single-handedly undermined many Canadians’ confidence in the administration of justice — including mine. .The oral decision given by JP Harris raises many questions. First, why did he not release written reasons at the same time? I’ve asked the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), the organization providing Tamara’s legal defence, for a copy of the written decision, only to be told as of Saturday that they don’t have it, and don’t even know if there is one yet..JP Harris heard the case on Monday, July 4, and reserved his decision to Friday, July 8. What was he doing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, if not preparing his written decision? Performing weddings? Or was he consulting with unknown people behind the scenes regarding what he should say? Clearly, he had something ready for court on July 8, because he gave his decision orally, so why not follow the usual practice of releasing written reasons at the same time, especially for a high-profile case such as this..I searched the CanLII database for written decisions penned by JP Harris since his appointment in 2017, but was unable to find a single one. It appears he's not given to writing much. We may have to await the production of a transcript for purposes of appeal in order to be really certain of what he said..While many news stories mention Tamara’s next court appearance will be on July 14, I haven’t seen any indicating why she’s returning that day and what issue will be dealt with then. It looks as though we’ll all have to wait, mystified, to find out..Meanwhile, I couldn’t help wondering: “Who is Justice of the Peace Paul Harris anyhow?” According to the government of Ontario bulletin that was issued at the time of his appointment, he doesn’t have a law degree or any legal experience. He ordinarily sits in Cornwall, not Ottawa. He was appointed in June, 2017 along with 12 other new JPs. While most of the other appointees were either lawyers or had significant backgrounds relating to law and courts, Justice Harris’ qualifications were that he had worked for the federal government for 16 years, the last seven of which he spent managing procurement policy and reporting at Parks Canada. As well, he had mentored youth through Trust 15, a Toronto-area charity. These qualifications don’t inspire confidence in me that he has a solid grasp of legal principles such as, for instance, the presumption of innocence..Keep in mind his decision effectually imposed a prison term on someone who hasn’t yet been tried for the offences she is accused of and is legally entitled to be presumed innocent until her guilt is proven. Yes, there is a reverse onus for breach of a bail condition, but the penalty JP Harris imposed is vastly disproportionate to the breach alleged — namely, a three-second interaction with Tom Marazzo in the presence of other people, possibly including her counsel. The probability they plotted a further convoy in that time period is zero..Unlike some other provinces, Ontario doesn’t require a justice of the peace to be a lawyer or to have any prior knowledge of law. A community college degree and 10 years of work — even volunteer work — are sufficient qualifications..Even the Toronto Star, whose editorial positions I ordinarily disagree with, sees some problems with this situation. Its 2016 article on this subject quoted one lawyer as saying that when JPs have little or no prior knowledge of the judicial system “… their default position is to do whatever the Crown suggests, which is detention or sort of this mindless imposition of unduly restrictive and unjustified bail conditions.”.This brings me to crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee, whose conduct towards Tamara does seem to me to fall into the “mindless” and “unduly restrictive” category..Karimjee is the guy who insisted back in May even agreeing to accept the JCCF’s award constituted a breach of bail conditions. He then had to be cautioned by Justice Phillips — the judge who amended Tamara’s bail conditions so she could attend the JCCF award ceremony — to mind his demeanour. Karimjee demanded Justice Phillips recuse himself for bias, which the judge justifiably refused. Further details of Karimjee’s courtroom antics on that occasion are here..Karimjee also reportedly used other flamboyant language in court while representing the government on the case. For instance, he referred to Lich as having “kicked in the mouth” the previous “gift” of the amendment of her bail conditions. He referred to the convoy’s presence in Ottawa as the “occupation” of the city. And he spoke of the residents of Ottawa as “helpless victims”..I looked up Karimjee in the Law Society of Ontario’s directory and discovered his office address is 161 Elgin Street in Ottawa. The injunction that was granted in February against trucker honking was for “the vicinity of downtown Ottawa, being any streets north of Highway 417.”.Mr. Karimjee’s office is in the zone covered by the injunction. Was he personally bothered by the honking during the Freedom Convoy’s presence in the city? Does he see himself as one of the “helpless victims” on whose behalf he is seeking to punish Tamara? .The Law Society’s Rules of Professional Conduct say when acting as a prosecutor, “… the lawyer's prime duty is not to seek to convict, but to see justice is done through a fair trial on the merits. The prosecutor exercises a public function involving much discretion and power and must act fairly and dispassionately.” [Emphasis added]. From what I’ve observed, it appears to be Mr. Karimjee who should recuse himself from this case. .Karimjee’s LinkedIn profile shows he was a criminal defence lawyer, briefly, before jumping to the Crown’s office in October 2000. Apparently he prefers putting people into jail rather than trying to keep them out. Or maybe it was the salary that attracted him — $229,382 last year according to Ontario’s sunshine list. I doubt whether many criminal defence lawyers in private practice earn that much..Historically, it's been very difficult for Canadians to win lawsuits against Crown attorneys or police officers for malicious prosecution or negligent investigation. However, the whole world is turning topsy-turvy these days, and Mr. Karimjee may find it wise to “govern himself accordingly,” as lawyers like to say.
