Rosalind Eve Conway

The applicants, Valdrin Basha and Anton Dokaj, jointly charged with drug and firearms offences, sought a stay of proceedings under section 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, alleging unreasonable delay.

Applying the framework established in R. v. Jordan, the court found that the total delay for Basha (29 months and 10 days) and Dokaj (28 months) fell below the 30-month presumptive ceiling for Superior Court matters.

The court determined that neither applicant demonstrated that the case took "markedly longer to conclude than it should have" or that the delay caused significant prejudice beyond the inherent nature of the charges.

The court also rejected Dokaj's argument regarding severance, finding that trying the co-accused together was in the interests of justice due to overlapping evidence and the risk of inconsistent verdicts.

Both applications for a stay of proceedings were dismissed.

Sentencing decision following convictions for sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving a child under the offender’s care.

The offender compelled the child to perform oral sex and threatened her with death if she refused, constituting a serious breach of trust by a person acting in a parental role.

The court considered aggravating factors including the offender’s position of trust, threats used to compel the sexual act, and the psychological impact on the complainant, while recognizing the offender’s lack of prior criminal record as a mitigating factor.

The court also addressed whether time spent on bail with a curfew should reduce the custodial sentence and concluded that such conditions warranted minimal credit.

Applying the principles of denunciation and deterrence and reviewing comparable appellate authorities, the court imposed a four‑year custodial sentence with credit for pre‑trial custody and several ancillary orders.