The Ontario Court of Justice considered a section 11(b) Charter application for a stay of proceedings due to delay in the trial of A.H., charged with multiple offences including sexual assault.
The court analyzed the total delay from charge to trial, the defence delay, and the impact of multiple earlier trial dates offered and declined by the defence at the Backlog Reduction Court.
Applying the Supreme Court of Canada’s Jordan framework and recent case law on defence delay apportionment, the court apportioned delay fairly between the Crown and defence, ultimately finding the net delay just under the 18-month presumptive ceiling.
Despite this, the court granted a stay, finding the defence had taken meaningful steps to expedite the proceedings and that the case took markedly longer than it reasonably should have.
