Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied. When a person is charged with
a criminal offence, they have a right to be tried within a
reasonable amount of time. This principle is a cornerstone of
Canada's justice system. It is found not only in the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms (section 11(b)), but also binding international
human rights laws (International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights).
But What Is a Reasonable Amount of Time to Conduct a Criminal
Trial?
According to the Supreme Court of Canada's Jordan principle,
it is either 18 or 30 months. Those are the numerical ceilings the
Court established in R. v. Jordan 1 SCR 631 for cases going to
trial in provincial court or superior court, respectively. Since
the Court's decision in 2016, any delay beyond these ceilings
is now considered presumptively unreasonable. The Crown may only
rebut this presumption by demonstrating to the Court that there
were exceptional circumstances outside of its control.
