Ruling to get the wheels of justice moving welcomed

A former politician facing drunk driving charges; men accused of sex offences; a trio of alleged largescale pot growers — they’ve all had their charges tossed out of the Saskatchewan courts in recent years because of a glacial pace of justice.

In those cases, the time from charge to trial took anywhere from 27 to 52 months.

While such time frames are exceptional, new rulings from the Supreme Court — soundly condemning “a culture of complacency” toward trial delay — have set charge-to-trial timelines at 18 months in the provincial courts and 30 months in the superior courts, which in Saskatchewan is Queen’s Bench. Except for “exceptional circumstances,” anything outside those limits (minus delay caused or waived by defence counsel) will be deemed a breach of an accused’s right to be tried within a reasonable time.

A Saskatchewan Justice Ministry spokesman says officials are studying the two recent decisions, so no one was prepared to discuss the implications for this province. But criminal defence lawyers had plenty to say.

“We love it,” says Regina lawyer Noah Evanchuk. “Now there’s more pressure on the system to stop putting these bottlenecks in the road.”

Over the past decade, he has noticed a slower pace. “Every proposed Band-Aid on the system has the effect of adding extra processes that makes it go even slower.”

Bruce Campbell, a Legal Aid lawyer currently handling appeals, expects even more cases will be tossed out. “I think it’s going to make big changes,” he adds. “The courts and Crown are going to have to adjust to these new time limits.”

Prior to these rulings, defence lawyers seeking to have charges stayed for the grinding pace had to prove their client had been prejudiced by the delay, such as living under strict bail conditions.

Andrew Mason, president of the Saskatoon Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, says the rulings provide a much clearer and easier test to determine what amount of delay is unreasonable.

“Unless the Crown is able to show that there was extraordinary factors that caused the delay, the court would be entitled to presume that 18 months is excessive and unreasonable,” he adds.

According to the Justice Ministry, the average wait for a trial is four to six months in a non-custody criminal matter before the provincial court. Cases heading to Queen’s Bench can take longer because of the need for a preliminary hearing first, it adds.

Mason agrees most criminal cases do proceed in a timely way, but there are always some where the wheels of justice get bogged down.

“I get a sense that the courts in Saskatchewan are trying to deal with the length of time and are certainly cognizant of the problem,” he says, adding steps have been taken. But “there’s lots of room for improvement.”

Evanchuk says in a complex case, “you’re looking a long time down the road.” In Regina, some murder or fraud cases are taking upwards of two to three years to get to trial.

Saskatoon lawyer Michael Owens has experienced delays, particularly in some small towns where the court sits only once a month. He recalls clients who were given notices for a first court appearance two months after the alleged offence. Couple that with the wait to get police files to the Crown, and then disclosed to the defence, and there’s already several months’ delay.

He says it’s particularly problematic for those charged with drunk driving, because provincial laws mean they’re suspended from driving even before the outcome of the trial. In some rural areas, a person waiting upwards of a year for trial may be “hamstrung from earning a living ” if their livelihood depends on a licence.