Despite the overwhelming barrage of news coming from the U.S., there have been plenty of important cases and stories in criminal law here in Canada.
January 2017 Criminal Law Round-up
Justice Denied: Delay in Criminal Court and the Right to a Speedy Trial
It has now been just over six months since one of the most important cases of 2016, R v. Jordan, was released. In it, the Supreme Court of Canada established a presumptive ceiling of 18 months delay in getting a case to trial at the provincial court level. If a case takes longer, then the Crown must prove that the delay is not unreasonable given the circumstances of the case. Otherwise, an accused person's right to a trial in a reasonable time under s. 11(b) are breached, and the case should be stayed.
