The Supreme Court of Canada handed down a decision Friday which could have a significant impact on Canada’s criminal justice system.
By a narrow 5-4 margin, the court said that a new framework is needed to determine whether a person’s right to a timely trial is being infringed upon.
Under the new rules set out, the court system would have to conclude superior court criminal trials within 30 months of when the charge was laid.
For less serious criminal offences prosecuted in provincial courts, a trial would have to be completed within 18 months from the date of the charge.
The Crown would be able to extend these deadlines if they could show evidence of “exceptional circumstances” such as illness or an unusually complex case.
In delivering the decision, judges said that the current system in place allows for “complacency” in the system, with little reason to keep trials moving along.
Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, all Canadians charged with criminal offences have the right to be tried within a reasonable timeframe.
A scan of recent high-profile criminal cases in Waterloo Region and its surrounding area suggests that many would not meet the new threshold set out by the Supreme Court.
Dellen Millard and Mark Smich were convicted last month of first-degree murder in the death of Tim Bosma – more than three years after they had been charged.
The gap was a similar length for Stephen Johnson, who pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Kelsey Felker.
It was also a little over three years between the arrest and conviction of Michael Schweitzer in connection with a double shooting in Milverton that killed 17-year-old Nicole Wagler.
Last summer, David Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2007 death of Denise Bourdeau. Although Thomas was not charged until 2011, the four-year gap before his conviction would still fall outside the new rules set out by the Supreme Court.
Financier Daniel P. Reeve, meanwhile, remains before the courts on fraud charges nearly four years after his arrest.
The case of former Woolwich Township mayor Todd Cowan would meet the court’s new deadlines for a timely trial, as he was found guilty of breach of trust and cleared of fraud in provincial court 15 months after the charges were laid.
Also within the Supreme Court’s new timeframe was the first trial of Michael Ball. In that case, a mistrial was declared about 28 months after Ball was charged, when jurors failed to reach a verdict on the accusation of first-degree murder.
Supreme Court judges did say as part of their decision that some sort of flexibility would need to be introduced for cases currently in the court system, as part of the transition to the new framework.
With files from The Canadian Press
