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 – on October 25, 2016.

277 Jordan applications have been filed in Alberta courts between October 25, 2016 - June 30, 2020:

  • 14 pending
  • 84 dismissed by the court
  • 28 granted
  • 52 abandoned by the defence
  • 38 proactively stayed by the Crown (on the basis that they wouldn’t survive a Jordan application)
  • 61 resolved (unrelated to Jordan)

Resources

Triage Practice Protocol – for Crown prosecutors