C-258An Act to amend the Criminal Code to address the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Jordan

What it does

• Creates a rule that a superior court judge must stay proceedings, or stop the case, if the time from charge to the end of trial goes over 30 months, unless the prosecutor proves exceptional circumstances.
• Creates a rule that a provincial court judge must stay proceedings if the time from charge to the end of trial goes over 18 months, unless the prosecutor proves exceptional circumstances.
• Excludes delay caused only by the defence, or delay the defence waives, when counting whether either time limit has been reached.
• Exempts primary designated offences under section 487.04 from these time limits, and says that exemption applies despite paragraph 11(b) of the Charter.