Canadian courts lag so far behind in software and infrastructure, criminals are running free
IN JANUARY 2009, Kenneth Gavin Williamson was charged with a series of sexual offences he had committed decades earlier against a twelve-year old boy in Kingston. Three days before the preliminary inquiry was set to begin in November, the Crown learned that the judge presiding over the trial had been double-booked. Government attorneys cancelled their witnesses but didn’t inform the plaintiff, leading to further scheduling delays. The case was then postponed again, because of a mix-up over the availability of the judge and an investigating officer, and then held up once more as lawyers waited to be assigned a courtroom.
Williamson, a schoolteacher who had been on suspension since the charges were laid, was largely out on bail until his trial ended in December 2011, a period of nearly three years. While the jury found him guilty of buggery, indecent assault, and gross indecency, an appeal judge stayed the conviction. The delays, he wrote, had violated Williamson’s Charter right to be tried “within a reasonable time” — a decision the Supreme Court upheld on July 8, 2016.
Legal observers were outraged to see a convicted child molester’s charges set aside, but the Supreme Court justices had decided to take a tough stance on court delays. Earlier that day, they had established strict time limits in order to combat what they called a “culture of complacency”: provincial-court trials without a preliminary inquiry must now be wrapped up within eighteen months, and those with a preliminary inquiry, as well as superior-court trials, can’t exceed thirty months.
Denne historien er fra March 2018-utgaven av The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 2018-utgaven av The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
I WAS AS SURPRISED as anyone when I became obsessed with comics again last year, at the advanced age of forty-five. As a kid, I loved reading G.I. Joe and The Amazing Spider-Man.
The Upside-Down Book
In her new novel, Rachel Cusk makes the case for becoming a stranger to yourself
Pick a Colour
BACK HERE, I can hear a group of women trickle in. Filling the floor with giggles and voices.
Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy
Familial separation can have devastating consequences on mental health and productivity
The Briefcase
What I learned about being a writer from trying to finish a dead man's book
In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It
Thousands have died trying to cross into the US from Mexico. Each year, activists follow their harrowing trek
Blood Language
Menstruation ties us to the land in ways we've all but forgotten
Dream Machines
The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"