Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When Members raise this question, I gather it is from the point of view that members of their constituencies, their families or communities want to know why there is such a long time for courts to dispense with their decisions or conclude the deliberations. I know there are tremendous costs involved in courts. In many cases, for instance, stealing candy from a store may not seem to be a serious offence, nonetheless it does sometimes result in bringing about very costly court proceedings. We find, in many cases, the people who are arguing on behalf of the young adults who are being charged, it is their lawyers who very often ask for a delay to put off court until a later date until they are more properly prepared and have had adequate time to put a case together on behalf of their clients.

There are also problems of weather where court parties are unable to travel according to their original plans. There is the additional problem where sometimes witnesses who are required by the courts do not show up or are unable to make it on the proposed court dates. There is also the problem of money, so that we are unable to make it convenient for everyone by increasing the number of lawyers, courts and judges to try to make the courts take care of their business in a much more expedient fashion. I'm not certain, even if we did, that we could speed the process up. I know it is tiresome and people find it very frustrating but, as I understand it, those are some of the reasons why it appears in many cases it takes months and months to conclude business with certain people who are called to the courts. Thank you.