R v Jordan: A Shift in Perspective on Unreasonable Delay

AuthorPhilip Campbell & Howard L Krongold
Pages464-486

R v Jordan
ASHIFTINPERSPECTIVEON
UNREASONABLEDELAY
Philip Campbell & Howard L Krongold*
SectionboftheCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedomspromise stha t
Anyperson chargedwith anoence hasthe righttobe triedwith ina
reasonabletimeRarelyinourlegalhistoryhastheburdenbornebythe
ubiquitousmodier reasonable weighed asheavi lyon robed shoul
dersasitdoesinthisbeguilinglysimpleguaranteeofatimelytrial The
provisionhasdeeda generationofaemptsto infuse itwithpractical
meaning led tote nsof thousa ndsof aborted prosecutions and most
recentlysplit the Supreme Court of Canada on issues both mundane
andfu ndamental
The protection against un reasonable delaysta nds apart from the
otherrightsgrantedto thecrimin alaccusedins ectionoftheCharter
Ourcourt sbeforehadsomefa miliarity withthe otherguara ntees
int hesect ionthrough the commonlawthe Bill of Rights the Crimin al
Codeorall threeThe serights therightto betoldofthe chargesyou
facetoremai nsilentat yourtrial tobe presumedinnocenttoreason
ablebai ltoajur ytri altopro tectio nagain stdoublej eopardya ndtothe
benetofthelawasitstood whenyoucommiedyouroencewere
rootedi nthe literature andh istoryof civil liberties and restedon our
 PhilipCampbel lisafoundingpart neroftheTorontormLockyerCampb ell
PosnerHowardKrongoldisapartneri ntheOawarmAbergelGoldst ein
PartnersLLP
 R v MorinSCRatMorin
R v Jordan
selfconceptionasafreeanddemocraticsociet yButCanadiancourts
hadnoexperiencewithcomplaintsoftardytrialsandmoreimportantly
noexperiencewitha nythingcomparableMostrightsinsec tionand
throughouttheCharterle ndt hem se lves tor eso lut ion byrefer enc et oea r
liercaselawanalogytootherlegalguaranteesandtheapplicationofes
tablishedprinciplesNotsec tionbThecharac terizationofaperiod of
timemeredaysont hecalendarasreasonableorunreasonablehas
noobvioustouchstoneinourjur isprudenceMuchasitmaybedressed
upasa maerofprincipleandan importantright whichit ist he
adjudicationoftwocaseswithsimilarfactsmustcomedownultimately
toa holdingthat onetr iedX monthsafter arrest isreas onableand the
secondtriedamonthlaterisnotWhentheenforcementofabasicright
isreducedtoanarbitrarymaerofcountingdaysthejudgesusualtools
ev idenceargument authorityand logic provide no satisfactory
wayofselectingwinnersa ndlosers
And that selecting has a lwaysbeen for the h ighest possible stakes
casesononesideoftheelusivelineins ectionbgototrialwhilethose
ontheot hersidearep ermanentlystayedCourts havemusedaboutbut
neveradoptedremediesforunduedelayth atcompensateforsomeofthe
eectsofyearsspent immersedin ascleroticjustices ystemwithouthalt
ingtheentireprocessSec tionblitigationisawinnerta keallcontest
The Supreme Court of Canada has naturally car ried most of the
burden of section bsa mbiguityThe Cour t delivereda judgment
twentysevenyearsagothatwasintendedtoclari fythefragmentedlaw
atthe time butled to aca scadeof stayedprosecut ionsthat convulsed
thejusticesystemItsaempttwoyearslatertostanchthebleedingre
sulted in confusion led to numbingly complex pretrial motions a nd
leftnoone satisedthatt heresultrested onsoundcon stitutionalprin
ciplesorproducedconsistentlyjustoutcomes
InabaremajorityoftheSupremeCou rtsweptthatpa infu lhis
toryasideItintroducedaradicallysimpliedapproachtotheissueofde
laystrippingawaytheintricatetestthathadcompelledthetediouslegal
microscopyoft helastqua rtercenturyInits placetheCour tsmajority
setr mtime limits forcompleting prosecutions with onlythe smallest
allowancefortheexigenciest hatsooftenstal lthemThemajority recast
the Chartersapproachtodelayinthefaceofaharshd issentthatmadea
 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom ssPartIoftheConstituti onActbeing
ScheduleBtotheCana daActUKc
 R v RaheySCRRahey
 R v AskovSCRAskov
 Morinabovenote

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