Jordan applications

Trial timelines

The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2016 R. v. Jordan decision – often called the ‘Jordan decision’ – establishes timelines that trials must be heard by:

• 18 months after charges are laid – for a province’s main entry point into the court system (example: Provincial Court of Alberta)
• 30 months after charges are laid – for a province’s superior court (example: Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta)

Filed applications

Justice and Solicitor General started tracking defence applications to dismiss cases based on Jordan timelines in October, 2016.

The status of filed applications are updated every 6 months:

• March 31
• September 30

Number of filed applications

332 Jordan applications have been filed in Alberta courts between October 25, 2016 - March 31, 2021:

• 14 pending
• 101 dismissed by the court
• 37 granted (2 being appealed by the Crown)
• 59 abandoned by the defence
• 52 proactively stayed by the Crown (on the basis that they wouldn’t survive a Jordan application)
• 69 resolved (unrelated to Jordan)

Resources

Triage Practice Protocol – for Crown prosecutors