Marwa Younes

The applicant sought a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter due to unreasonable delay.

The total delay from the information being sworn to the anticipated end of trial was 23 months and 8 days.

The court deducted 4 months and 24 days for defence delay, resulting in a net delay of 18.5 months, which exceeded the 18-month presumptive ceiling for the Ontario Court of Justice.

The Crown argued COVID-19 constituted exceptional circumstances but failed to provide evidence of its specific impact on this case or steps taken to mitigate delay.

The court found the delay unreasonable and granted the stay of proceedings.

The accused, charged with assault and robbery, brought an application for the production of third-party records held by the Victim/Witness Assistance Program.

The application was based on an email from the complainant indicating a desire to withdraw the criminal complaint due to a cultural and community agreement.

The court found that the accused established the likely relevance of the records, as the agreement raised questions about the complainant's motives and credibility.

The court ordered the records produced to the court for review at the second stage of the application.

The Court of Appeal considered a motion to transfer an appeal and cross-appeal to the Divisional Court due to a jurisdictional issue.

The appellant had been awarded $16,000 in damages by the Superior Court, which falls below the $50,000 threshold for appeals to the Court of Appeal under s. 19(1)(a) of the Courts of Justice Act.

The court granted the motion, transferring both the appeal and cross-appeal to the Divisional Court, which has the appropriate jurisdiction.