Case information

Charter of Rights — Criminal law — Right to be tried within a reasonable time — How the Jordan framework should apply to adjournments resulting from reasonably unforeseeable circumstances — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in characterizing interval between court dates as arising from discrete exceptional circumstances — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 11(b)

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The applicant was tried by summary conviction procedure for sexual assault. By the end of his trial, the total delay amounted to 27.5 months. He applied for a stay of proceedings on the basis that the delay was unreasonable and his right to be tried within a reasonable time had been infringed. The trial judge dismissed the application after deducting periods of delay that he characterized as defence delay and delays arising from discrete exceptional circumstances. The applicant was convicted.

The summary conviction appeal court held that the trial judge made numerous errors in characterizing various periods of delay. The summary conviction appeal court judge calculated the net delay as 19 months and 1 week, which exceeded the presumptive Jordan ceiling of 18 months. The Court of Appeal allowed the Crown’s appeal and calculated the net delay as 16 months. It set aside the stay of proceedings and reinstated the conviction.