Delay unreasonable in murder case: top court

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a judge's decision to halt a murder case because of excessive delay, even though the accused man was long ago deported from Canada.

The ruling today is the high court's latest pronouncement on the pressing issue of timely justice.

In 2017, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingham should not face trial for the alleged killing of his wife due to the nearly 60-month delay between his 2012 arrest and the start of proceedings.

In its landmark Jordan decision, the Supreme Court set a 30-month limit between the laying of charges and the conclusion of a trial for superior court cases.

Thanabalasingham was deported to his native Sri Lanka following his release, but arguments about halting the case continued to play out in the Canadian courts.

Last October the Quebec Court of Appeal said the Crown had not proven any errors in the trial judge's decision to stay the murder charge.