Chris Bentley has inherited a troubled justice portfolio

Both Conservative leader John Tory and NDP justice critic Peter Kormos have called for an inquiry into just what went wrong in the recent police corruption trial.

Citing the "glacial progress" of the prosecution, Mr. Justice Ian Nordheimer of the Ontario Superior Court stayed charges against six Toronto police officers last week, citing their right to a timely trial as the reason for his decision.

In fairness to Attorney General Chris Bentley, this is not a problem of his making. He took over as AG after the October election. The delays happened on the watch of his predecessor, Michael Bryant -- but the issues go back farther than that.

As I sat down for an interview with Bentley in the A-G's boardroom yesterday, I studied the familiar faces of his predecessors going back decades. I can remember sitting in the same boardroom almost 10 years ago, discussing the same issue with then-attorney general Jim Flaherty, now federal finance minister.

Bentley, a former defence lawyer from London, wouldn't talk directly about the Toronto corruption case, but he was frank about problems plaguing our justice system.

Cases are becoming bogged down with a skyrocketing number of needless appearances that simply waste court time and money and eat up precious resources, he said.

"The number of appearances that a case will make in court between beginning and end has increased over the past 15 years by about 115% -- it has more than doubled," he said.

"Many of those appearances are ones at which those cases are not advanced. There isn't what I would call an issue of significance -- a bail hearing, guilty plea or a trial or preliminary hearing," he said.

"That's an enormous use of resources at every level."

Judges, JPs, Crown attorneys, defence counsel, court administrators and jury pools all waste their time in meaningless exercises that achieve nothing, he said.

"Nobody thinks that increasing the number of adjournments is serving some over-arching important purpose," he said.

"The initiatives that I am bringing forward and intend bringing forward over the next number of months are going to get at that issue," he said.

TALK TO JUDGES, LAWYERS

He's going to sit down with judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police and corrections officials to help speed up the process, especially for large cases such as the corruption trial.

Kormos was particularly scathing this week, pointing out that Opposition parties have hammered away at the government over court delays for years.

"It is naive to listen to the premier talk about his interest in law and order and public safety when he has a criminal justice system that is not only blind, but ineffective," he said in a recent scrum.

Yesterday, after more disturbing allegations about the manner in which the case was bungled, Tory called for an inquiry.

"This justice system is in deep trouble," he said.

"It has gotten much worse on Mr. McGuinty's watch and he has got to do something about it -- starting with getting to the root of the problem by having an inquiry."

This judicial boondoggle helps no one. And it sends a message to defence lawyers and prosecutors alike that if they rag the puck long enough, they can end up with a stalemate. This judicial foot-dragging not only makes for bad law, it is financially crippling.

Worse, it casts a shadow over the officers involved -- and on police in general.

Charges are stayed, so those accused are free to go. Presumably, they can now return to their work on the force. If I were them, and I were innocent, I would want the case to go to trial -- so I could be vindicated and walk away with my head held high.

This decision denies them that. And society as a whole has been denied a very fundamental and basic right: Judicial proof that our cops, the very people we trust to uphold the law, are honest.

Justice delayed may be justice denied. When justice is denied and it's the integrity of your police that's at stake, we've all been denied something very fundamental to a democratic society.