Canada’s judicial system is trying to figure out how to stop 10,000 cases a year from getting thrown out for no good reason.
Driving the news: The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to rule today on a case that could set a precedent that allows judges to hand down alternative remedies for unreasonably delayed trials, as opposed to automatically throwing out cases.
The case, R.B.-C., centers around an Iranian citizen who was convicted of sexual assault but waited over 14 months for sentencing, which he argued breached his Charter right to a reasonably speedy trial.
The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed that his Charter right was violated, but instead of tossing out the case entirely (the default remedy), his sentence was cut to 20 months. The Supreme Court is now deciding whether that remedy should be allowed.
Catch-up: A 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling established that criminal cases in Canada need to be tried within 18 to 30 months. Judge shortages and other roadblocks have caused the number of cases tossed under that rule to skyrocket, hitting a peak of 11,132 a couple of years ago.
In June, Ottawa passed a bill that called on judges to consider “alternative remedies” to tossing out cases for unreasonable trial delays. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote in a May decision that it was time to revisit the trial delay remedy rules.
Why it matters: When nearly one in every 20 criminal cases is being tossed out without a trial, public trust in the justice system is bound to waver, especially when it comes to cases involving violent crimes. Giving judges more discretion when it comes to remedies for trial delays could reverse the trend, even if it doesn’t fix the underlying delays.—LA
