R v Jordan: A Shift in Perspective on Unreasonable Delay

• Author: Philip Campbell & Howard L Krongold
• Pages: 464-486



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