Section 11 b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom provides the right of any person charged with an offence to be tried within a reasonable time. Since this section is constitutional in nature, it has precedence over the law as well as the government’s administrative decisions.
Then what are the consequences of excessive delays before a trial?
The Supreme Court of Canada recently set a ceiling for procedures of 18 months between laying of charges and trials for cases of summary conviction, and of 30 months for criminal act cases. These periods do not include delays caused by defence. Once delays have expired, criminal lawyers may submit a request for procedures to cease. The Prosecution then has to prove there were exceptional, unpredictable and irremediable circumstances to have the Court grant permission to continue procedures.
Unless exceptional circumstances are proven, the Court will put an end to the case and the client will be discharged without any conviction.
Note that the cessation of procedures may be requested for unreasonable delays before the periods of 18 or 30 months, but the Defence then has to prove it took measures to accelerate matters
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We believe such requests will rarely occur, since it is strategically better to submit a request after the expiry of delays.
