C-258 (45-1) - An Act to amend the Criminal Code to address the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Jordan
Chamber
commons
Stage
1st Reading
Introduced
Dec 3, 2025
Progress
This bill writes the Supreme Court's R. v. Jordan trial-delay rules into the Criminal Code, with an exception for serious sexual and violent offences.
Key Changes
- Codifies the 30-month trial ceiling for superior court cases directly into the Criminal Code
- Codifies the 18-month trial ceiling for provincial court cases directly into the Criminal Code
- Requires judges to stay proceedings if ceilings are exceeded, unless the Crown proves exceptional circumstances
- Excludes delays caused or waived by the defence from the time calculations
- Creates an exception so that 'primary designated offences' (serious violent and sexual crimes) are not subject to the time ceilings
- Invokes the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter) to override the Section 11(b) right to trial within a reasonable time for those primary designated offences
Gotchas
- The bill explicitly invokes the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter) to override the Section 11(b) Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time for primary designated offences — a significant and controversial constitutional tool.
- Primary designated offences include serious crimes like murder and sexual assault, meaning accused persons in those cases cannot have charges stayed due to court delays, regardless of how long they wait.
- The bill codifies existing Supreme Court case law rather than creating entirely new rules, but writing it into statute gives Parliament more direct control over these limits in the future.
- The definition of 'primary designated offence' is found in Section 487.04 of the Criminal Code and is not defined within this bill itself, so readers must consult that separate section to know exactly which offences are excluded.
- Using the notwithstanding clause in this context is notable because it limits a right of accused persons — not a right of a broader population — which may raise debate about the appropriate use of that constitutional tool.
Who's Affected
- Accused persons awaiting trial in Canadian courts
- Crown prosecutors, who must prove exceptional circumstances to justify delays
- Defence lawyers and their clients
- Provincial and superior court judges
- Persons charged with serious violent or sexual offences (primary designated offences), who lose access to the Jordan stay remedy
Vibes
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Gotchas
- The bill explicitly invokes the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter) to override the Section 11(b) Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time for primary designated offences — a significant and controversial constitutional tool.
- Primary designated offences include serious crimes like murder and sexual assault, meaning accused persons in those cases cannot have charges stayed due to court delays, regardless of how long they wait.
- The bill codifies existing Supreme Court case law rather than creating entirely new rules, but writing it into statute gives Parliament more direct control over these limits in the future.
- The definition of 'primary designated offence' is found in Section 487.04 of the Criminal Code and is not defined within this bill itself, so readers must consult that separate section to know exactly which offences are excluded.
- Using the notwithstanding clause in this context is notable because it limits a right of accused persons — not a right of a broader population — which may raise debate about the appropriate use of that constitutional tool.
Summary
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Jordan that accused persons have the right to be tried within a reasonable time. The Court set firm time limits: 18 months for cases in provincial court and 30 months for cases in superior court. If these limits are exceeded, charges must be stayed (dropped), unless the Crown can prove exceptional circumstances caused the delay. This bill takes those court-made rules and writes them directly into the Criminal Code so they become part of the written law. The bill also introduces a significant exception: the time-limit rules would not apply to 'primary designated offences' — a category defined elsewhere in the Criminal Code that includes serious sexual offences, murder, and other violent crimes. This means accused persons charged with those offences could not use the Jordan framework to have their charges stayed due to delay. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill by Mr. Fortin in December 2025. It is intended to give the Jordan framework clearer legal standing in statute, while also carving out the most serious offences from automatic stays.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
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