The Crown appealed a stay of proceedings granted after the trial judge found a breach of the accused’s right to be tried within a reasonable time under s. 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in an impaired driving prosecution.
The appeal court held that the trial judge mischaracterized certain periods of delay as institutional rather than neutral and erred in inferring prejudice to the accused.
Recalculating the delay reduced the unreasonable delay to approximately 11¾ months, which was insufficient to justify an inference of prejudice in the absence of evidence of actual prejudice.
The court found no error in the balancing of societal interests and Charter rights but concluded the stay was improperly granted.
