Mistakes in the Evolving Rules of Delay
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“the Charter”) establishes in section 11(b) that any person who is charged with an offence must be tried for that offence in a reasonable amount of time.1 Not long after the Charter went into effect, the Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) clarified in R v Rahey (“Rahey”) that in order to violate section 11(b), a delay would have to be shockingly long, to an unconscionable degree.
R v. K.J.M. – Examining the Jordan Framework in a Youth Setting
Author: Caitlin Dyck R v. K.J.M. is a Supreme Court of Canada decision, and is one of their most recent cases regarding delays under the Jordan approach. In 2015, a youth was charged with multiple offences that arose out of a fight. He stabbed another person with a box cutter, but maintained his innocence, citing self-defence. He was eventually found guilty of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; however, this verdict came approximately 19 mo
Reasonable Time Before Trial: Applying R. v Jordan to Youth Crimes
On November 15, 2019 in the case R. v K.J.M., the Supreme Court of Canada laid out the applicability of R. v Jordan, a case determining ceilings for the reasonable length of time before a trial, to cases involving youth. The Supreme Court determined in this case that the ceilings identified in Jordan did apply to youth cases and that a lowering of the maximum range of eighteen to thirty months for cases concerning youth was unnecessary.
After R v Jordan: Reflections on the R v KJM, R v KGK and Subsequent Policy Changes
R v Jordan was heard on July 8th, 2016 and has significantly changed the practice of criminal law. With any significant change, there are still growing pains. The issues regarding delay and the timeline ceilings in Jordan raise more questions than it answers.One of those issues was recently addressed in R v KJM, 2019 SCC 55. KJM addresses the issue of whether or not the Jordan 18-month ceiling and the presumption of unreasonable delay was also applicable in youth justice cour
R. v. KJM : Balancing Public Policy and Charter Rights
Section 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every Canadian the right to be tried in a reasonable time. In 2016, this so-called “reasonable time” was given an 18 to 30 month ceiling in R v. Jordan , a case in which section 11(b) was invoked. Any trial expected to exceed the ceiling established in Jordan could therefore be considered unreasonable and, in turn, a violation of section 11(b).
