A 1st in Quebec: Man accused of murder has case stayed due to Jordan ruling

A Montreal man accused of second-degree murder has had his case stayed because of the Jordan ruling.

Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingham was accused in the murder of his wife. He was arrested in August of 2012.

The "Jordan decision" was issued by the Supreme Court of Canada last July. The ruling setsnew deadlines on the justice system to avoid unreasonable trial delays.

Less serious offences must now be wrapped up within 18 months and more serious charges, including murder, have a 30 month deadline.

• Quebec court delays lead to cases against alleged criminals being dropped

"I thought my client's rights were violated," said his defence lawyerJoseph LaLeggia.

Thanabalasingham has been detained since his arrest.Trial proceedings were setto starton Monday,April10.

Given Thursday's ruling,Thanabalasinghamshould be released within hours, according toLaLeggia.

"My client is obviously very happy. Hopefully he's going to be released because he has no pending cases, no other charges against him. Normally the system would want him released from jail hopefully today or tonight.I'm presuming that it'll be in the next 24 hours or less."

This is the first time someone accused of murder in Quebec has had their charges stayed because of the Jordan ruling.

Thanabalasingham'scase is the third in Canada.

The Crown has 30 days to appeal the decision.

Victims 'abandoned by our justice system'

A few weeks ago, the Quebec government announced the appointment of 16 new judges and the hiring of 52 new prosecutors as a way to unclog the system.

Hundreds of support staff were also hired.

• More judges, prosecutors hired to reduce delays in Quebec's justice system

The province hasalmost 700 requests forstays of proceedings for unreasonable time delays.

VroniqueHivon, justice critic for the official opposition, is calling for more to be done.

"Today, I think that our level of outrage has hitthe limit. Our level of outrage literally hits the limitwhen we see that we are at a point where delays led to an alleged murderer beingreleased," she said.

Hivonadded that Quebec should explore the possibility of using the notwithstanding clause in exceptional circumstances "so that justice can be served beyond the time limits prescribed by the Jordan ruling."