Bill 40 was tabled in the National Assembly last week with the aim of expediting parking ticket disputes and reducing congestion in the province’s municipal courts.
there An act aimed at reforming the municipal courts and improving the effectiveness, accessibility and efficiency of the justice system Allows administrative decision-makers to handle disputes, thus freeing up time for judges.
“Competitors represent 72% of all cases in Montreal Municipal Court,” explains Karian Bourassa, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Justice. What we want is to release a batch of these files and have them processed by administrative decision makers. So they are no longer judges.
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A similar system already exists in Ontario.
A person who wants to contest a ticket that changes its name to “SAP” or “Administrative Monetary Penalty” must call a dedicated line and explain the situation to a reviewer who can decide whether to cancel the ticket.
“Unless he cancels the fine […] You can meet in person or by video conference […] The Member for Charlevoix-Côte-de-Beaupré explains that it does not necessarily have to be during working hours. At that time, administrative decision makers will listen to you and decide whether or not you deserve this new type of penalty.
For example, the government may want to prevent a person who has been wrongly fined from paying the fine simply because he fails to appear in court on a certain date.
“Especially in an inflationary environment, we know how much every dollar counts in a family’s wallet,” says a parliamentary aide. So we want to prevent people from wasting hours and days going to court and ultimately make it easier.
Quebec’s 89 municipal courts have more time to handle other files.
The city of Montreal estimates five of the 31 judges could be acquitted, Carian Bourassa said.
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