by Karen Sawatzky | Jan 2, 2018 | Court of Queen's Bench, Criminal Law, Practice Directions
The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench has issued the following new practice direction:
Beginning in February 2018, as a one-year pilot project, all pre-trial conferences for judge-alone trials in the case of new criminal matters will be managed by one of approximately eight judges. A first group of four of these pre-trial judges will be assigned to this project for the first six months of the year and a second group of four pre-trial judges will be assigned to this project for the second six months of the year. Each new criminal matter proceeding by judge-alone will be assigned to one of these pre-trial judges.
Please read the practice direction in full.
by Karen Sawatzky | Sep 20, 2017 | Access to Justice, Criminal Law, Sentencing
Criminal lawyers take note. The founder behind Rangefindr.ca has developed a freely accessible site monitoring the status of various mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines.
The website it created, called MMS.watch, gives legal professionals a chance to check which mandatory minimum sentences have been challenged or struck down as unconstitutional.
For more information check out this article published in The Lawyer’s Daily
by Karen Sawatzky | Jul 7, 2017 | Criminal Law, Delay
The Manitoba Court of Appeal released a decision that contained a significant analysis of what constitutes a delay in court proceedings, and whether it warrants a dismissal. R. v. Schenkels, 2017 MBCA 62 originated as an appeal of a conviction by a jury for aggravated sexual assault, but also claims delay. Hamilton, J.A. also cites the even more recent Supreme Court of Canada decision of R. v. Cody, 2017 SCC 31.
These decisions demonstrate how long it takes for a matter to go from a charge to an acquittal or conviction. Guidance from the Court of Appeal should help keep it in check.
by Karen Sawatzky | Jun 13, 2017 | Criminal Law
Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Joyal wrote a lengthy analysis on the topic of delay in R. v. K.G.K., 2017 MBQB 96. This was in response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision of R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 which laid down the rules governing when charges must be dismissed if it has taken too long to bring the matter to trial.
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