Time limits for trials were meant to speed up justice. They've also halted hundreds of criminal cases

WARNING: This story contains details of intimate partner violence.

When police turned up at Melanie Hatton's home in Kelowna, B.C., in November 2021, she says they found her in the bathroom covered in blood, with her then-husband Jeffrey Maclean standing over her "in an aggressive manner."

She describes a gruesome scene in a court filing, with blood from her head wound allegedly smeared on Maclean's mouth from his whispering in her ear. The filing in a civil lawsuit against Maclean says he told a 911 operator his wife was "bleeding like a pig."

Hatton said police and prosecutors told her the criminal case against Maclean in B.C. Supreme Court would be a "slam dunk," and he was charged with assault causing bodily harm and resisting arrest.

But the case was thrown out in August 2023 — not for a lack of evidence, but because the Crown took too long to bring it to trial under a set of strict timelines that have reshaped the way criminal cases are handled since a landmark 2016 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Supporters say the so-called Jordan ruling has sped up proceedings and strengthened Charter rights for prompt justice.

But the legacy of the ruling is mixed, and some victims say the time limits work in criminals' favour. Eight years on, cases continue to collapse because the time limits are breached, although these represent a small fraction of all cases. 

A review of statistics provided by provinces and territories shows that since the beginning of last year, more than 400 criminal cases countrywide have been dismissed, stayed or withdrawn as a result of Jordan challenges. 

Among the defendants were some accused of sexual assault, child exploitation, fraud and drug trafficking; murder cases have also been thrown out in previous years. 

The case against Maclean was among those dropped.

Hatton said she was thrown into "an absolute pit of despair and shame" after the case was thrown out. Prosecutors blamed factors including COVID-19 and the availability of Maclean's lawyer for the delays and the failure of the case.

Hatton thought otherwise, and sent a one-line email to the Crown prosecutor.

"I said 'this is on you,'" recalled Hatton, who now lives in Ontario with the couple's two children.

None of the allegations in Hatton's civil suit against Maclean have been proven or tested in court, and in his response, Maclean "denies each and every allegation."