The appellant appealed his conviction for speeding on the grounds that his language rights under s. 16(1) of the Charter and his right to a trial within a reasonable time under s. 11(b) of the Charter were infringed.
The trial court failed to provide a French trial on the scheduled date, resulting in an 8-month delay before trial commenced.
The court found breaches of both language rights and the right to trial within a reasonable time due to administrative failures and an inflexible pre-scheduled French trial system.
The appeal was allowed and an acquittal was entered.
