'We have to be smarter,' says Department of Justice on new trial time limits

The new guidelines for trial time limitsin Canada means that people involved in court cases "have to be smarter" when setting trial dates, says the director of public prosecutions in Newfoundland and Labrador.

While Frances Knicklesays most cases in this province go to trial in a reasonable time, the July ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada will prevent complacency.

TheR. v. Jordan rulingthrew out thedrug trafficking conviction ofaBritish Columbia man and sex charges against an Ontario man, saying both had waited too longfortrial.

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"The bottom line or the central core part of their decision is that there's now a time limit in which trials must happen or there will be a presumption that the delay is unreasonable," Knickle told the CBC's Central Morning Show on Tuesday.

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A recent ruling that set rules for how long trials should take is already having an impact in this province. We ask Frances Knickle, Director of Public Prosecutions for the Department of Justice, how.

""If you go beyond this point the Supreme Court of Canada has now said there will be a presumption that there has beenunreasonable delay."

Knickle said the time limits are now 18 months for provincial court trials which is extended to 30 months if there's a preliminary inquiry.

The Crown would have to prove that delays are reasonable. Knickle provided examples of exceptional circumstancessuch as a complex case, delays beyond the court's control, or because of the defence.

One case already thrown out

In early November, aprovincial judge in Grand Falls-Windsor cited the Jordan ruling in his decision to stay proceedings for a trial that hadlasted more than30 months.

The Department of Justice said it is the first time a provincial judge has applied the recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling to find unreasonable delay in the province, but Knicklesaid the decision wasn't centred on that ruling.

"Judge (Mark) Linehan found in that particular case that he would have found unreasonable delay under the new framework or the old framework," she said.

"The delay was of such a nature that it would not have even met the old framework."

Knicklebelieves there will be cases that are impacted by the new ruling but it isn't immediately clear how many. She said the case involved provinces with delays worse than inNewfoundland and Labrador's court system.

"I'm not sure there's the same level of systemic delay in Newfoundland. There are probably problematic areas but for the most part I think cases that come in to problems have individual problems," said Knickle.

"For the most part cases do get to trial within a reasonable time and within the Jordan time limits and where they don't usually there are good explanations for it."

New standard

Knickle said the Jordan ruling has set a new standard for courts in Canada.

"There's clearly direction for all stakeholders not just the Crown but courts and defence counsel [need] to be proactive in trying to ensure that cases are dealt with expeditiously, as reasonably as possible," said Knickle.

"We just have to be smarter ... In the past people might have been a little more complacent about when trial dates are set," said Knickle.

"Knowing that there are these timelines, I think all parties and in particular the Crown will be more proactive in ensuring that trial dates are set as soon as everyone is reasonably ready to do so."