The Supreme Court agreed the Ontario man's delay was unreasonable and endorsed a lower court's stay of proceedings. The majority wrote that "the system has lost its way" in allowing unreasonable delays in trials and that the old guidelines — known as Morin after Supreme Court case that established them — have been "interpreted to permit endless flexibility. If the Supreme Court's new time frames are missed, the onus is on the Crown to argue that the delays were caused by exceptional circumstances that were either reasonably unforeseen or beyond the Crown's control — like a medical or family emergency.
The decision to stay the Jordan case was unanimous. But four judges dissented on the new framework outlined by the majority, warning that it could lead to thousands of stays of proceedings in criminal cases. Justice Thomas Cromwell — writing for the minority — warned that the new guidelines were "not an appropriate approach to interpreting and applying" the charter right to a speedy trial.
Take your coat off and put it out of sight. Don't hang it over the seat. Book an appointment with your lawyer immediately. You need advice fast. Your lawyer needs to get started on analyzing the disclosure and demanding more. You need to come up with some cash to retain your lawyer. It is a huge professional responsibility to undertake the defence of someone in Court.
There may be a lot of correspondence, court attendances, research, disbursements, and preparation. Once a lawyer goes "on the record" he or she is making a commitment to the court. You may need to borrow money. Bring your cheque book to the appointment.
There may be a meeting between your lawyer and the Crown Attorney before a trial date is set. Sometimes we call these "Resolution Meetings". If there is to be a trial, they are used to estimate length of time for the trial.
If there is the possibility of a guilty plea, they are used to discuss pleas to lesser offences if any , agreements as to facts, and joint submissions as to sentence. Your lawyer may charge you at least half a day's worth of legal fees for a Crown Pre-Trial.
Sometimes you and your lawyer may decide that it is a good idea for you to plead guilty before a trial date is set. Don't do this without help from your lawyer.
Sometimes there is absolutely no advantage to you to plead guilty at an early stage. Be careful about the judge who is sitting in plea Court. Be careful about the facts read in on the plea. Ask your lawyer about the Judge's reputation on guilty pleas. Judges don't have to follow joint submissions as to sentence. Even if your lawyer and the Crown agree that you should not go to jail, the sentencing Judge may think otherwise. Sometimes it is necessary to have a pre-trial meeting among a Judge, the Crown Attorney, and the defence lawyer.
These judicial pre-trials can be helpful depending on the judge if the Crown is being unreasonable. They may also be necessary according to local practice if the lawyers estimate that the trial will last longer depending on the jurisdicrtion than a specified number of hours eg.
Once the Crown and the defence have settled on an agreed length of time, the Crown will obtain the police officers' leave dates, and defence and Crown will meet with the Trial Co-ordinator to select a trial date. A date will be selected that is good for the lawyers, the witnesses, and the accused.
The person charged should always seek and be on record as seeking the earliest possible trial date. If he or she doesn't pursue an early date, waiver of right to trial within a reasonable time may be alleged by the Crown. If the charge is a serious one and you wish trial by Superior Court judge and jury or Superior Court judge alone, you will be setting a preliminary hearing date instead of a trial date. If your lawyer is alleging a breach of the Charter of Rights, your lawyer will, in Ontario, provide Notice of Application, an Affidavit in Support sworn by you or on your behalf, perhaps transcripts of earlier proceedings, and perhaps a legal Factum to the Crown before trial in accordance with the Rules.
Your lawyer may also need to serve Notices respecting experts or business records. Many Courts require that lawyers and accused attend on a confirmation date prior to trial.
At that time your lawyer will certify that disclosure is complete and that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. It makes no sense whatever that ordinary matters should take a year to come to trial. The Supreme Court of Canada has issued a maximum guideline of 18 months excluding intake, neutral, or accused fault time. Of course you can't always be sure that you will be reached or that the matter will finish on the first trial date. A witness may be ill, the Court dockets may be overbooked, or the courthouse heating may fail.
The matter may be postponed to another day. The next Court date could be months later. The main problem is thatgovernments are not providing enough courtrooms, prosecutors and judges to handle the volume of criminal charges that are being squeezed through the system. A major cause of delay is the slashing of legal aid services: the flood of unrepresented accused, and litigants in civil cases, is clogging the court process. I expect that at a minimum, as a result of this decision we will see an increase in both federal and provincial funding to help move cases to trial more efficiently.
If governments want to use the criminal law system and prisons to address societal problems of addiction, poverty and abuse, they will need to pour money into the system, and ensure that legal aid is available to those who need it. The Jordan decision may force them to face up to the cost of their failed strategies. Time will tell. By Jim Quail In a split decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has set out new guidelines that will dramatically change the way our courts enforce the right under section 11 b of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be tried within a reasonable time.
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