Friday, March 2, 2018 An aside and Bountiful BC what is the Charter issue.

 Charter Vocabulary Test: Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Essay Outlines Due: Monday, March 5, 2018

Furthering our discussion from yesterday:

The right to be tried in a reasonable time

In December 2008, Barrett Jordan was arrested and charged with offences relating to possession and trafficking. It was not until February 2013 that he was finally convicted of five drug-related offences. The total delay between the charges and the end of trial was over 49 months. During his trial, Jordan asked to stay the proceedings, which is a request to stop the case from moving forward. He believed that the delay violated his right to be tried within a reasonable time.

The Supreme Court agreed that the delay was too long for a simple drug trial. As a result, the Court created new guidelines to decide whether a delay is reasonable or unreasonable. According to the default guidelines, a case should be tried within 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in superior court. These delays can only be exceeded in exceptional circumstances. While building on previous decisions that had already had a significant impact on the justice system, the majority made it clear they did not think enough had yet been done to eliminate complacency toward delay, recognizing that delay has a negative impact on the accused, victims of crime and society’s interest in seeing justice is done.
R v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27

• Reason for delays by the defense:  Psychological evaluations, fact gathering, waiting for results or establishing witnesses etc.

• When it is a delay by the crown it is only acceptable when there are exceeding circumstances.

Bountiful BC is Polygamy a Charter Issue:  Discussion (case study

Here are some informative links on to read about how it has evolved since 2003.

The Tyee and the Lost Boys May 26, 2006

National Post April 17, 2017  (timeline near end of article)

The Economist May 2, 2018

Verdict: Vancouver Sun July 24, 2018