In the year since a landmark Supreme Court decision, 200 criminal cases have been tossed for unreasonable delays.

JUSTICE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BECOME A PRIORITY, LEGAL OBSERVERS SAY

More than 200 criminal cases across the country have been tossed due to unreasonable delays since the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark Jordan decision one year ago, court data shows.

The cases include murders, sexual assaults, drug trafficking and child luring, all stayed by judges because the defendant’s constitutional right to a timely trial was infringed.

While provinces and the federal government have taken steps over the past year to speed up Canada’s sluggish courts, legal observers say more drastic and urgent changes are needed.

“Not nearly enough has been done by the government in order to repair this crumbling system,” said Rick Woodburn, president of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel.

“Until the government views the justice system as a priority, we’ll continue to see murderers set free.”

Advocates say governments must provide more funding for every facet of the system, including judges, Crown attorneys, legal aid and infrastructure. Ottawa is also being urged to reverse decisions made under the previous Conservative government to expand mandatory minimum sentences and to close three of six RCMP forensic labs in the country.

The Jordan decision, as it has come to be known, was issued on July 8, 2016, when the high court ruled the drug convictions in British Columbia of Barrett Richard Jordan must be set aside due to unreasonable delay.

In a 5- 4 ruling, the court said the old means of determining whether proceedings had taken too long were inadequate.

Under the new framework, unreasonable delay was to be presumed if proceedings topped 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in superior court.

In a dissenting opinion, a minority called the new framework unwarranted and unwise, warning it could lead to thousands of prosecutions being thrown out.

Since the ruling, approximately 1,766 applications have been filed for charges to be stayed because of unreasonable delays in courts across Canada.

Of those, 204 have been granted and 333 have been dismissed. The remainder are either still before the courts, have been abandoned by the defence or were resolved on other grounds.

Still more charges have been proactively stayed by the Crown due to the expectation they would not survive a Jordan application, including 67 by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

Heidi Illingworth, executive director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, said 200 cases tossed over delays was “shocking” and very painful for victims and their loved ones.

“The system is failing everyone. It’s failing victims, it’s failing accused, it’s failing everyone who is working in it,” she said.

A study conducted at Dalhousie University in Halifax shows both applications and stays went up after the decision. In the six months before Jordan, 26 stays were granted out of 69 applications, while in the six months afterward, 51 stays were granted out of 101 applications.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said there are a number of solutions to delays and she expects to introduce reforms in the fall. She also said her government remains committed to reviewing mandatory minimum sentences.