Delayed cases on the rise in Ottawa’s court system
The number of criminal cases in Ottawa at risk of offending the Supreme Court of Canada’s rules for “unreasonable delay” has continued to swell during the past three months, despite concerted efforts to curb the problem.
New provincial statistics show 1,071 criminal cases had been in the Ottawa court system for 15 months or more at the end of March.
That means 21.6 per cent of all Ottawa criminal cases are now at or near the 18-month ceiling established by Canada’s highest court for what in most instances constitutes unreasonable delay. That represents a one percentage point increase from the end of December.
The numbers published by the province’s Criminal Court Modernization Committee suggest there’s no quick fix to the backlog problem in Ottawa, which is among the worst in Ontario.
Across the province, 11.3 per cent of all criminal cases — or 11,224 cases — are in the “at risk” category by virtue of having been in the court system for 15 months or more.
Last July, in the case of R. v. Jordan, the Supreme Court said provincial court cases must be concluded within 18 months of criminal charges being laid. Delays that go beyond that point are “presumptively unreasonable,” the high court said, and violate an accused person’s constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time.
In Ontario, provincial court cases are dealt with by the Ontario Court of Justice, which handles about 98 per cent of all criminal matters.
The latest figures were published as federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould conducted an emergency meeting in Gatineau Friday with her provincial counterparts to discuss ways to address chronic court delays. The countrywide problem has become urgent in light of the Jordan ruling, which has led to charges being stayed in some high-profile cases.
In Ottawa, people accused of murder, fraud and sexual abuse have had charges stayed during the past five months because of the Jordan decision.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court heard legal arguments in a case that’s expected to give more shape to the Jordan decision and to help judges understand how to apply its tenets, particularly to “transitional” cases, those launched before the landmark ruling on trial delays was handed down.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its ruling in the case of James Cody, a Newfoundland man who wants his drug-trafficking case thrown out since it took five years to reach the trial stage in Superior Court. The Jordan decision set a 30-month limit for trials to be completed in Superior Court.
The Ontario government has launched a $25-million-a-year action plan to address court backlogs in the province and recently appointed three new judges to the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa.
Attorney General Yasir Naqvi also joined with his Manitoba counterpart Friday to ask the federal justice minister to eliminate preliminary inquiries in all but the most serious criminal cases. “Bold reforms are needed,” Naqvi has said.
The latest provincial statistics show that out of Ontario’s seven regional court systems, the East Region now faces the most challenges when it comes to meeting the timelines set by the Jordan decision.
The East Region, which encompasses Ottawa, had 16 per cent of its cases at risk at the end of March. The Central West region had 13 per cent of its criminal cases in the system for 15 months or more, while Toronto had 12 per cent of its cases at risk because of delays.
The report did contain some good news about the backlog situation in Ottawa: The number of cases in the system for 18 months or more — the oldest ones at the Ottawa courthouse — fell to 521 from 554. aduffy@postmedia.com