National

Delay unreasonable in murder case: top court

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Jul, 2020 05:10 PM

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.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Police need more than an unverified tip to avoid drug-case entrapment: top court

An unsubstantiated tip that someone is dealing drugs from a phone number doesn't amount to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

Police need more than an unverified tip to avoid drug-case entrapment: top court

Garneau says still no black boxes from Iran in January shootdown of airliner

Canada and four other countries are still trying to pressure Iran to release the flight recorders from its Jan. 8 shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Friday.

Garneau says still no black boxes from Iran in January shootdown of airliner

Statistics Canada says first-quarter GDP worst showing since 2009

Canada's economy had its worst quarterly showing since 2009 through the first three months of 2020, and may be headed to an even steeper drop, as steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 forced businesses to close and lay off workers.

Statistics Canada says first-quarter GDP worst showing since 2009

Trudeau acknowledges racial unrest in U.S.; 'We also have work to do in Canada'

America's anger, frustration and discord boiled over in Minnesota's Twin Cities on Friday at a remarkable moment in the history of the United States, sparked by the collision of racial injustice, freedom of expression and the worst public health crisis of the last 100 years.

Trudeau acknowledges racial unrest in U.S.; 'We also have work to do in Canada'

Another $650M in COVID-19 aid bound for Indigenous communities, Miller says

The federal government is planning to spend $650 million more to help Indigenous communities cope with the pandemic, after months of First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders saying the previous amount was inadequate.

Another $650M in COVID-19 aid bound for Indigenous communities, Miller says

Large cruise ships barred from Canadian waters until end of October: Garneau

The cruise-ship season in Canada is all but sunk as Ottawa extends its ban on large ships in Canadian waters until the end of October in an attempt to contain COVID-19.