The outside of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa in Oct., 2025.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The real answer to the challenges created by judge-made time limits for criminal proceedings in Canada is to fix the problem of delay, not to pretend that failure doesn’t matter.

Nearly a decade has elapsed since the Supreme Court of Canada set timelines for criminal proceedings, and now the federal Liberals are throwing up their hands and crying uncle. Under proposed legislation known as Bill C-16, judges would be encouraged not to toss cases that breach an accused person’s right to a timely trial. It is an admission that the system simply cannot get its act together. Justice delayed would be all but woven into federal law.

And what are those time limits, set by the Supreme Court in 2016, in a case called Jordan? In superior court, 30 months, and in provincial court, 18 months. This is hardly a headlong rush to trial. By contrast, the U.S. Speedy Trial Act says a trial begins 70 days after charge, with some allowance for pre-trial motions and complex cases.

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