LFP Longform: Inside Ontario’s landmark justice-system overhaul – The London Free Press

May 3, 2019

Amid headlines and protests over budget cuts by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government is another major adjustment that’s drawing far less attention – landmark changes to the provincial justice system. Free Press reporters Jane Sims and Randy Richmond dug into separate proposed changes – one relating to jury selection, the other to the province’s own legal liability – and uncovered sweeping updates, and some serious concerns.

The courtroom on the 14th floor of the London courthouse was packed Monday morning with potential jurors for a week-long sexual assault trial.

It was typical of any jury pool ordered to come to the courthouse. There was a fairly equal split of men and women and a wide spectrum of ages. And, as usual, the faces were mostly white.

Change is coming to how juries are picked in the province, aimed at making them more diverse and representative of their communities, in what is likely to be the biggest adjustment to the jury system in Ontario since women were allowed to serve.

Read More: https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/lfp-longform-inside-ontarios-landmark-justice-system-overhaul