“It’s the same lawyer and the same caseworker involved throughout: The victim has her own team and this gives her confidence.”
More than anything these specialized courts are intended for the judicial process to accommodate these victims. It’s not a new court so much as a new way of offering services and organizing hearings for these cases, which, for the year ending March 31, 2024, represented 25,139 files, or more than 27 per cent of all files authorized in Quebec by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP).
Assistance centres for crime victims were established in Quebec in 1988 and all 17 of the province’s administrative regions have one. Its workers help all victims of crime, free of charge, whether an incident has been reported to police or not. With the new tribunals, everyone who makes a complaint of intimate partner violence or sexual assault that goes to the Crown prosector meets with a CAVAC worker.
Much like that of the Côté Cour caseworker, the role of this worker is to evaluate the risks victims face, said Sophie Bergeron, co-ordinator of conjugal violence and sexual assault for the CAVAC network and co-ordinator for CAVAC for the establishment of the new tribunals. The worker’s assessment is then shared with the Crown prosecutor.
Côté Cour, a psycho-social service established in 1986, is a unique alliance between the health ministry, through the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, and the criminal justice system. Its services are available, at no charge, to anyone required to appear in court following an incident of intimate partner violence or family violence authorized by the DPCP.
“Offering a professional psycho-social opinion to the DPCP is major,” said Bergeron, a criminologist. “This way, decisions made by the Crown are much more informed. The prosecutor has the police file in his hands, but the police file is just the tip of the iceberg. The CAVAC worker goes to see what is underwater and then presents it to the prosecutor.
“It is important that the victim feel consulted and listened to in intimate partner violence cases, which are complicated,” she said. “Before, workers were in a silo. Now they are working together: It’s the same lawyer and the same caseworker involved throughout: The victim has her own team and this gives her confidence.”
Say a woman calls 911 and police arrest her spouse and impose conditions on him like “You cannot communicate with your wife,” said Bergeron. “And then a month goes by and the victim is no longer sure she wants the relationship to end. In the specialized tribunal, we listen carefully when the victim says: ‘I am not sure whether I want to be in court — but I want to be able to talk to my ex: He said he was in therapy.’
“Our work is to look at the victim’s request and at her situation. Could telephone conversations be permitted? We provide the opportunity for her to make her request clear, which is important, and professional advice to help her — and then we evaluate it. Why is she making the request? Is she being pressured? Is it about the kids? Has he respected the conditions?”
Before the specialized tribunal was in place, the victim would contact the Crown prosecutor, “who would ask a few questions and then say yes or no” to contact, said Bergeron. The CAVAC worker operates differently.
“I like to say, ‘What was your intention when you went to the police?’ Our role is to see to it that victims feel listened to, that their wishes are respected and that they feel safe,” she said.
“What we have learned is that women who are ambivalent about what they want to do are less likely to go to places like CAVAC — and these are the women who are most at risk.”
