About 6,000 criminal cases could see charges stayed or withdrawn due to delays, Ontario Crown attorneys say.

TORONTO — Ontario’s ministry of the attorney general is reviewing thousands of criminal charges that could be stayed or withdrawn because cases are taking too long to get to trial, but Crown attorneys say the government had made the situation worse.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last July in what is known as the Jordan decision that a reasonable delay to trial is 18 months for provincial cases and 30 months for cases before the superior court.

Last week, a first-degree murder charge against former Canadian Forces member Adam Picard was stayed on the grounds that his right to a speedy trial had been violated, four years after the charge was laid in Ottawa. On Friday, the attorney general’s office announced it would appeal the ruling.

The Ontario Crown Attorneys Association estimates there are about 6,000 criminal cases that could see charges stayed or withdrawn, and it blames a shortage of judges, prosecutors and court space.

Association president Kate Matthews said the group has been raising the alarm about the need for more resources in Crown attorney’s offices for years, calling a crisis inevitable.

“Anyone working in the criminal justice system could see ’Jordan’ coming, and yet the government did nothing with respect to the key reasons behind it,” Matthews wrote in an open letter. “In the last few years, the government has effectively reduced the number of assistant Crown attorneys in trial offices.”

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Author: Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press