Case information

Constitutional law — Charter of Rights — Right to be tried within a reasonable time — In absence of concrete evidence that earlier trial could have been held, whether lateness in filing of motion under s. 11(b) can, on its own, justify attribution of substantial delay to defence, so as to bring net delay below ceiling fixed by Jordan — In application of Jordan ceilings, whether court can arbitrarily divide delays between defence and Crown, by attributing approximate portion of delays to accused, without concrete evidence of causal connection or objective basis of quantification, or whether such approach violates requirement of predictability and rigour imposed by Jordan and subsequent decisions of this Court relating to delay — In application of Jordan ceilings, extent to which delay attributable to institutional practice of Crown (for example, pre-trial meeting of complainant in domestic violence cases) can be likened to “facilitation” or any other mechanism attributable to defence and thus be subtracted from calculation of net delay.

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Yann Giroux, the applicant, was charged with sexually assaulting, assaulting and harassing his intimate partner. He appeared before the Court of Québec on February 15, 2021. The trial took place on October 2 and 3, 2023, and then, on October 24, 2023, Mr. Giroux filed a motion for a stay of proceedings for unreasonable delay.

The trial judge was of the opinion that after the calculations were done, the delay exceeded the 18-month ceiling; he granted the motion and ordered a stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeal recharacterized the delay and came to the conclusion that the proceedings had been conducted within the 18-month period. It referred the matter back to the trial judge for judgment.

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