VANCOUVER -- A "culture of delay" exists within British Columbia's justice system that encourages defence lawyers, Crown prosecutors and even judges to act in ways that contribute to unacceptable backlogs in the courts, a government-ordered review has found.

Lawyer Geoffrey Cowper, appointed in February to examine why so many cases take months, if not years, to make their way through the courts, has released a 270-page report on his findings.

He makes a number of recommendations to fix that problem, many focusing on ensuring cases are resolved early, well before a trial date is even set.

He does not make any recommendations on the level of funding for the justice system and rejects a recommendation by the provincial court that 18 new judges be appointed.

Cowper says the system is currently designed as if every case is destined for trial, when in fact 98 per cent of cases in provincial court are resolved without a trial.

But despite that reality, he says neither the defence nor the Crown are encouraged to work early in the process towards reasonable pleas or sentences, resulting in courts that are poorly utilized as cases that are scheduled for trial are cancelled at the last minute.

"Not only does delay undermine public confidence in the system, but a culture of delay rewards the wrong behaviour, frustrates the well-intentioned, makes frequent users of the system cynical and disillusioned, and frustrates the rehabilitative goals of the system," Cowper writes.

The debate over court resources boiled over last year in the face of what lawyers and judges lamented were lengthy delays.

Last year, more than 100 cases were stayed because of court delays, and when Cowper began his review, there were roughly 2,500 cases before provincial court that had been there for more than 18 months.

At least two judges used decisions from the bench to criticize the provincial government for underfunding the justice system, particularly when it came to the number of judges currently sitting.

Cowper says there has been a reduction in that backlog recently, but he says the system is currently not meeting the expectations of victims, suspects or the public in resolving cases in a timely manner.

The report says the government should set a Criminal Justice and Public Safety Council that would draft a province-wide justice plan that would implement reform, set timeliness goals and develop a system to track whether those goals are being met.

He says individual Crown prosecutors should be assigned to take "ownership" over files from the outset, and legal aid lawyers should be assigned to particular court locations so they deal with the same offenders.

Such a change, says Cowper, would require a prosecutor to make a reasonable offer on sentencing early in a case. That would discourage an accused person from waiting until the first day of trial in the hopes that he or she may receive a lighter sentence for a guilty plea or that no-shows among witnesses would jeopardize the case, he says.

"Moving responsibility for early resolution out of the courtroom is a systemic change that, if successful, will produce a more effective resolution culture that will better serve victims, the community and accused persons," writes Cowper.

The report doesn't make any recommendations about the level of funding for the justice system, and in what will likely be a controversial conclusion, he rejects the provincial court's request for 18 new judges.

Instead, he says five new judges should be appointed to immediately deal with the current backlog and concludes other reforms designed to use court time more efficiently will make significant increases in judicial appointments unnecessary.

He also recommends more money for legal aid.

Cowper also rejects a suggestion from the policing community that officers be permitted to approve charges against accused offenders. Currently, the Crown oversees the charge approval process based on evidence provided by police.

Cowper says that arrangement should not change, though he does recommend police provide abbreviated reports to Crown counsel early in an investigation, rather than waiting until their work is complete before submitting evidence to prosecutors.

Cowper was appointed in February and was given until the end of July to complete his report. He held consultations with more than 100 groups and individuals, and invited submissions from the public.

He also kept a regular blog, where he mused about a range of issues from capital punishment to wrongful convictions.