Current ads
Jobs
Tenders
Notices
General

Click below

Committee to advise on Nunavik justice system

Justice minister seeks recommendations on municipal court, full-time judge

JANE GEORGE

The newly renovated court house in Kuujjuaq. (FILE PHOTO)

---

The committee’s creation came out of a two-day visit to Nunavik by Yvon Marcoux, Quebec’s attorney general and minister of justice.

Marcoux said in a telephone interview that he hopes the committee on justice, with representatives from provincial and regional groups, will get back to him with a prioritized list of recommendations and an idea of the costs involved in carrying them out.

The areas under consideration will include legal aid services, traveling court schedules and the need for a municipal court and full-time judge in the region.

“There’s been a lot of progress over the past 20 years with how justice is handled [in Nunavik], but with this committee, which will be a consultative group, perhaps we can still improve the delivery of justice in Nunavik,” Marcoux said.

During his visit last week, his first to the region, Marcoux officially opened Kuujjuaq’s new courthouse, along with Geoffrey Kelley, the provincial native affairs minister.

Marcoux unveiled a carving by Laly Annanack, which will be permanently exhibited in the courthouse.

The courthouse renovations, which cost $1.4 million, double the courthouse’s floor area to 431 square metres. Improvements include a more secure courtroom and waiting room, both of which now meet standards.

Marcoux also announced a $400,000 grant to the Nunavik crime victims’ assistance centre, also known as the Sapumijiit Centre.

The courthouse building has been under the ownership of the KRG since December 2000. Built in the 1960s, the building was originally used as a hospital.

The Kuujjuaq courthouse is the only court facility open year-round in Nunavik. In a meeting with Marcoux, Quaqtaq mayor Johnny Oovaut spoke about the urgent need for more courthouses and for municipal court sessions.

But Marcoux said it’s not possible to have permanent buildings set aside for use as courthouses in every community.

“We have to be imaginative,” he said. “The objective is, of course, that justice is rendered correctly.”

In Kangirsuk, Marcoux visited the community’s courtroom, located in the basement of council office, watching the traveling court in session. Case after case was postponed, a common state of affairs, but one that nonetheless impressed Marcoux.

Marcoux also visited the Makitautik Center where Zebedee Annahatak, the halfway house’s director, gave a tour and hosted a lunch, attended by the staff, clients, Kangirsuk Justice Committee, Makivik president Pita Aatami, KRG chairperson Maggie Emudluk and Jusipi Annahatak, the mayor of Kangirsuk.

During his visit, Marcoux said he was obliged to refer several issues of concern for Nunavik leaders to the federal officials, including financing for justice committees and the division of the proceeds of crime.

TOP

Advertising
Specs, rates,
& maps
Multi-paper
buying services
About the market
E-mail ad dept

More Information