R. v. Thanabalasingham, 2020 SCC 18
UNREASONABLE DELAY - S. 11(B) - JORDAN
What You Need to Know
Pre-Jordan era was plagued with complacency and systemic delay which are no longer tolerated under the Jordan framework, and are incompatible with an accused’s rights under s. 11(b).
The Crown must be alive to delay attributable to their prosecutorial discretion (i.e. which charges to pursue)
A reminder from the SCC, when dealing with transitional cases, if a stay of proceedings would have been warranted under the Morin framework, it will be exceedingly difficult to justify a delay as a “transitional exception” under Jordan.
The SCC confirms the relevance of the “seriousness of the offence” in determining whether a case falls under the transitional exception.
SCC makes clear that Jordan’s primary message is that all participants in the justice system must take proactive measures at all stages of the trial to move cases forward and bring accused to trial in a timely fashion.
For the Crown, this. means. making reasonable decisions, using court time effectively, making plans for complex prosecutions and complying with disclosure requests promptly.
For the defence, they must be aware that they will be contributing to delay if the court and Crown are ready to proceed, and they are not.
For the trial judge, they have a special role in curtailing unnecessary delay and proactively changing courtroom culture.
Read the full decision here.