Third of cases in Horne abuse lawsuit resolved: lawyer

The lawyer representing about 70 victims of Edward Horne, aformer Nunavut teacher and convicted sex offender, says about one-third of the cases in their lawsuit against the N.W.T. and Nunavut governments have been resolved so far.

The group launched the lawsuit in 2004 against both territorial governments, claiming officials failed to protect them from Horne, who had taught in various eastern Arctic communities over 14 years in the 1970s and 1980s.

Earlier this week, the N.W.T. government announced it asked the Nunavut Court of Justice to postpone the lawsuitindefinitely, citing "substantial progress" in a judicially assisted mediation process.

Geoffrey Budden,lawyer for the plaintiffs, told CBC News he hopes the whole lawsuit can be settled out of court.

"We've stubstantially resolved perhaps a third of the total, which leaves us [with] approximately 45 or a little more that we need to address," Budden said Tuesday.

Budden added that the parties also need to work out some broader issues, such as treatment and healing for the former students.

Horne pleaded guilty in 1987 to eight sex-related charges involving 24 former students. He was convicted in 2000 on20 more charges.

In 2002, the N.W.T. and Nunavut governments reached a $21-million out-of-court settlement with more than 82 of Horne's former students.

Nunavut wasnamed in the lawsuit because it was part of the Northwest Territories until 1999, when it formed its own territory.

The trial for the lawsuit had been scheduled to take place next month. Atthe N.W.T. government's request,the hearing has been put off indefinitely.