Ottawa calls meeting of justice ministers to deal with Jordan ruling fallout

The federal government will convene a meeting of Canada's justice ministers later this month to discuss how to deal with fallout caused by last year's controversial Supreme Court ruling aimed at limitingtrial delays.

Federal Justice MinisterJodyWilson-Raybould announced the meeting on Monday. She was being pressured by the Quebec government to do more to help it speed up its justice system.

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

Quebec's sense of urgency was provoked by the decision of aSuperior Courtjudge last week to stay second-degree murder charges laid againstSivaloganathanThanabalasingamin 2012becausehis case had takentoo long to come to trial.

Last year, in its so-called Jordan ruling, the Supreme Court set strict limits on trial delays 18 months for cases waiting to be heard in lower courts and 30 months for Superior Court cases.

That has allowed dozens of suspects across the countryto walk free without standing trial.

Wilson-Raybould insisted on Monday that the onus remains with the provinces to end trial delays, given that most criminal cases fall within their jurisdiction.

She did, however,commit to holding a meeting in late April to help co-ordinate solutions.

"I'm happy to say that we're having a federal-provincial-territorial meeting at the end of April, where we're specifically going to talk about Jordan," she told reporters in Ottawa.

"There's no one solution to court delays, and we're going to make sure that we do everything we can to co-ordinate in terms of the delays."

Justice ministers will meet to discuss trail delays

7 years ago

Duration 0:35

The federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould will meet with Canada's justice ministers later this month to discuss how to deal with fallout caused by last year's Supreme Court ruling aimed at limiting trial delays.

Pressure mounts on Ottawa

Quebec's justice minister,StphanieValle, saidthe province has done what it can to unclog its courtsappointing16 new Quebec courtjudges, hiring52 new prosecutors and hundreds moresupport staff.

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

Quebec maintains delays in the upper courtswhich hear more serious crimes, such asmurder are Ottawa's responsibility. Valleaccused the federal governmentof dragging its heels on filling 14 judicial vacancies on Quebec'sSuperior Court.

"We've been waiting for these positions to be filled for quite a long time," she told CBC MontrealDaybreakon Monday.

• Ottawa judge stays 1st-degree murder charge over trial delay

Along with the pressure from Quebec, the Liberal government is also facing criticism from the opposition in Ottawa to move ahead with the appointments.

"Why is it that the government isn't moving more quickly to name judges?" asked Luc Berthold, Conservative MP for the Quebec riding ofMganticL'rable.

• Supreme Court sets new deadlines for completing trials

"We've been repeating this request for months in the House of Commons. It doesn't seem to be a priority for the minister."

On Monday, though,Wilson-Raybouldonly mentioned six vacancieson Quebec's Superior Court. She refused to provide a specific timeline for the nominations and downplayed what effect theunfilled positionshave.

"Appointing six judges in Quebec is not going to solve the delay problems," she said.

Couillard's'nuclear option' and other solutions

The ruling in theThanabalasingam case has contributed to a sense of crisis in Quebec about the strain courts are facing dealing with Jordan.

There arealmost 800 requests for stays currently before Quebec courts, and that accumulation of requests hasonly taxedthe justice system further.

• Invoke nothwithstanding clause to avoid Jordan ruling havoc, PQ says

Quebec's Opposition, the Parti Qubcois, has proposedthe Quebec government invoke thenotwithstanding clause to bypass the time limits set by the Supreme Court.

Invoking the clause would entailtheprovincial legislaturepassing alawthat would overridesection 11b of the Charter, which holds that anyone accused of a crime "be tried within a reasonable time."

Over the weekend, PremierPhilippeCouillarddescribed that as the "nuclear option" and said the province hoped to make headway with Ottawa first.

Wilson-Raybouldsaid Monday she also wasn't a "big fan" of invoking the notwithstanding clause.

• Criminal courts scramble to meet Supreme Court's new trial timelines

Other provinces have been experimenting with less dramatic ways of cutting trial delays. Since 2014, for instance, Alberta hasrecommended preliminary hearingsonly be held in the most serious cases.

It's an approach that has found favour among members of a Senate committee studying the court system.

"We think there are areas where preliminary inquiries are not necessary,"Conservative Senator Bob Runcimantold CBC recently.

Among other proposals for clearing backlogs in the justice system are revisiting some mandatory minimum sentences and encouraging judges to delivermore oral judgments.