A lack of judges has led to a man having his human trafficking charges thrown out due to delays at Toronto Superior Court for the second time this year.
According to the Toronto Star, Superior Court Justice Michael Code called the federal government’s failure to appoint enough judges an “embarrassment to the administration of justice.”
Marlon Downey’s first case of human trafficking was tossed out in January due to delays and now so has a second case involving a different complainant.
According to the Supreme Court, cases in Superior Court must be heard within 30 months or else be tossed out for violating the accused person’s constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time.
Other cases which were tossed out due to a shortage of judges include charges of child sexual abuse, gun possession linked to a fatal shooting, assault and sexual assault.
Downey’s second case was tossed by Superior Court Justice Jennifer Penman on Monday, who in her decision said that “the most significant contributing factor to the overall delay in this case was a systemic lack of judicial resources.”
Downey’s first case was tossed after 33 months had passed since it was last adjourned, due to a lack of judges.
“There was no moratorium on judicial vacancies being filled during the pandemic,” wrote Penman, who deducted the court’s time off as a result of the pandemic from the total elapsed time since adjournment.
“There is no reason why vacancies which have existed since before the pandemic could not have been filled at a faster pace than what we have seen.”
Downey’s latest human trafficking case was stayed in January following his trial judge being elevated to the Court of Appeal without an immediate replacement.
For years now, the Trudeau government has been scrutinized over the issue but its reached new heights in Toronto recently as the city has seen a staggering number of cases being thrown out.
The federal government responded to critics by extending the membership terms of the various committees responsible for screening judicial applications from two to three years, requesting that they convene more regularly.
Additionally, lawyers applying for the bench are now asked to complete paperwork for a security check while they fill out their application form to expedite the security check process. This will allow the Minister to bring their name before cabinet for appointment faster.
Justice Penman’s decision on Monday comes only a week after Justice Code tossed out a case involving sexual assault charges against a man who allegedly took sexual photographs of his niece when she was six for the purpose of extorting sexual acts from her for years.
The man’s trial had already been adjourned twice as a result of no judges being available to preside over the case.
“The government had knowingly allowed the court to continue without its full judicial complement during an unprecedented crisis of rapid population growth, increasing numbers of certain serious crimes, and a pandemic backlog,” wrote Code.
“I cannot leave this application without saying, in conclusion, that it is an embarrassment to the administration of justice that this serious ‘priority’ case, involving alleged sexual abuse of a child, cannot be tried in accordance with the constitutional standard of trial ‘within a reasonable time.’”
