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The Ministry of the Attorney General plans to create a private regulator to control all aspects of court transcription. This will not serve the administration of justice.
Toronto (11 June 2013) – The Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario announced on May 15 that it will create a “private regulator” that will control all aspects of court transcription.
Loss of quality, transparency and accountability with private regulator
From the little information the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) has been given, and this government’s track record, it expects problems for the public and for those serving the legal process, such as:
- loss of quality and continuity because the reporter in the courtroom will no longer prepare the transcript
- costly membership fees for court reporters
- extra fees charged to people ordering transcripts
- no access to resources currently available to reporters in some courthouses
- no fair rotation and allocation of court transcript work
- no protection against favouritism
- no protection against arbitrary decisions
- no accountability or transparency and
- possible offshore outsourcing.
How is our justice system being served?
Creating a private regulator will add millions of dollars to the administration of justice – costs that court reporters and litigants will have to cover. It will not guarantee accurate transcripts in a timely manner. How does this serve our justice system?
The ministry is outsourcing court transcription to deliberately avoid compliance with a legal ruling that says the production of transcripts is covered under the OPSEU/NUPGE collective agreement.
Protect the integrity of the record
Contact your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and your colleagues in the legal community. Tell them the administration of justice is not being served. To locate your MPP go to www.electionsontario.ca, and click: Find Your Electoral District.
More information:
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE