The Supreme Court made the potentially groundbreaking ruling in deciding that the drug convictions of a British Columbia man must be set aside. OTTAWA—The Supreme Court of Canada, citing a culture of complacency in the justice system, has adopted a new framework for determining whether a criminal trial has been unreasonably delayed. Under the new framework, an unreasonable delay would be presumed should proceedings — from charge to conclusion of a trial — exceed 18 months in provincial court, or 30 months in a superior court. In a 5-4 decision today, the high court says the old means of determining whether a person’s constitutional right to a timely trial had been infringed was too complex and problematic. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms says any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Source: thestar July 08, 2016 17:03 UTC