Alberta violent crime cases at risk of being tossed, chief justice and advocates call for help 

Alberta lawyers and victim advocates are calling for more legal resources as the head of Canada's Supreme Court raises concerns about the number of cases at risk of being thrown out because of delays. 

Recent statistics from the Court of King's Bench show 22 per cent of active criminal cases in Alberta have exceeded what's known as the Jordan period — the rule that sets out reasonable time limits to get to trial.

Chief Justice Richard Wagner said 91 per cent of those cases involve serious or violent crime. 

"That's for Alberta, I suspect that the situation is the same in every other province," he said last month. 

"One part of the remedy would be to make sure that [judicial] appointments are made in a timely fashion. That will help a lot."

The Jordan decision is a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that established a time limit for when a trial must be heard by. Provincial court cases have 18 months, while superior court cases (King's Bench in Alberta) have 30 months.

If a case takes longer, the accused can apply to have their case thrown out because of delays. The right to go to trial in a reasonable time is a provision in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

While Wagner is worried about the number of at-risk cases, provincial statistics show the number of successful Jordan applications is low. 

There have been 423 applications since the ruling in 2016, according to the ministry of justice. Of those, less than 10 per cent (40 applications) have been successful. Two applications were granted in 2022-23 and three more are pending. 

One happened this January, when a man accused of sexually assaulting a minor in Peace River had his application for a stay approved.

"This is the darkest time for most of these families. It is a time of crisis," Maggie Mackillop, the executive director of HomeFront, said of the victims and the court process. 

Her organization works with victims of domestic violence from charge until after the trial. Because they work in a specialized court, Mackillop said Jordan timelines are often respected, which shows the importance of closure. 

"Victim engagement and co-operation through this process is imperative to the likely success of the outcome, and the longer it takes, there's a potential for that to decline."

Alberta's government also tracks Jordan applications in the province, which have declined over the past three years.