JFCY intervened in this appeal, which concerned the interpretation and application of section 11(b) of the Charter, the protection against unreasonable delay in bringing matters to trial in the criminal justice system.
The Court was asked to consider how the “presumptive ceilings” for delay concerning adults, as established in the previous case of R v Jordan, should apply to young people in the youth criminal justice system, given the heightened need for timeliness in youth cases.
While the majority found that there was insufficient evidence that the Jordan standards cannot appropriately accommodate young people’s needs, the majority and dissenting judgments all affirmed young people’s unique vulnerabilities and right to enhanced protections and adopted many of JFCY’s submissions in this regard.
