“Justice is Never Too Late to Come”
“Justice is Never Too Late to Come.” This was the powerful statement made by the spokesperson for the family of the girl who was killed by Ibrahim Ali in 2017. As noted elsewhere there is a deep appreciation for justice and it can still be received as justice many years after the event and despite ample grounds for concern over timeliness.
All Judicial Appointments Since the Hameed Decision
In Hameed v. Canada 2024 FC 242 the Federal Court has declared that the Federal Executive is required to make timely judicial appointments within a “reasonable time of vacancy.” The Honourable Mr. Justice Henry Brown, ruling on the decision, found the number of judicial vacancies (85) appalling and untenable and ordered that “appointments to fill judicial vacancies… must be made within a reasonable time.” Since …
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Forensic Delay in the Delisle Case
Police called to the scene of a wife who has been killed by gunshot are conditioned by training and experience to suspect the husband. In 2009 the elderly Nicole Rainville died by gunshot and her husband Jacques Delisle, a former judge for the Court of Appeal in Quebec was charged, tried and convicted for her murder and served almost nine years in prison. Investigators have …
Delaying Departures
It has been a fact of deportation for sometime that many people who are deported stay around. The Globe on February 13, 2024 reported that only a quarter of people given notice of deportation since 2016 have actually been removed. This is particularly concerning when the basis of the deportation is the commission of a serious criminal offence. No matter how small the share of …
Keeping Up
In Hameed v. Canada 2024 FC 242 the Federal Court has declared that there is a constitutional convention that the Federal Executive is required to make judicial appointments on a timely basis and within a “reasonable time of the vacancy.” In yet another cry of alarm Justice Henry Brown observes that treading water in making appointments fails not only those who depend on them to …
Pleading Not Guilty
Andy Gregory at the Independent recently reported that “criminals are gaming the system by pleading not guilty and relying on crippling tactics to evade justice.” The criminal justice systems in most countries have come to depend on a high level of guilty pleas. The natural result of this is that if defendants come to believe that their interests are well-served by requiring the prosecution to …
Sexual Assault Case Stayed for Delay after the Guilty Verdict
A sexual assault case was stayed for delay after the guilty verdict. Jacques Gallant wrote an article for the Toronto Star on this case titled “She testified. The jury found a man guilty of raping her. It was only then a GTA judge tossed the case for delay.” Timothy Toole, an acquaintance of the victim (whose name is protected) had a few drinks with the …
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The Steven Galloway Case: Anti-SLAPP Delay
Various legislatures have recently sought to control the use of litigation to suppress public debate and this has been termed anti-SLAPP legislation. Each of these statutes expressly urge timeliness on the need to shutdown attempts to suppress debate. The recent case of Steven Galloway is a demonstration of the common experience that legislative requests for timeliness run up against the reefs and shoals of delays …
Final Report on the Lionel Desmond Murder Suicide Released After Seven Years
On January 3, 2017, Afghanistan war veteran Lionel Desmond shot and killed his wife, daughter, and mother and subsequently committed suicide — all with a semi-automatic rifle he bought a few hours earlier. Seven years later, the final report was just released yesterday on January 31, 2024. Ever since this macabre event, the biggest question the public has been wondering is how? How can someone …
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Chicago Tribune reporters investigate criminal justice delays in Cook County
On December 31, 2023, Joe Mahr and Megan Crepeau released an article on the progress Cook County has made in delivering speedier justice titled, “Stalled justice: Slow Cook County courts see progress in 2023, but some decade-old cases still linger on dockets.” Since the reforms made in the fall, Mahr and Crepeau report, the number of cases that are completed within Cook County’s two-year goal …
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