Tuesday, September 27, 2011

R. v. R.D.R., 2011 NSCA 86

In R. v. R.D.R. the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal held that the replacement of the Youth Offenders Act (YOA) with the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) did not change existing jurisprudence nor did it result in a special constitutional guarantee for young persons.

Beveridge J.A., writing for the court, held that the YCJA did not alter the proper approach to evaluating whether a young person's Charter right to be tried within a reasonable period was violated and rejected the argument that young offenders should be treated differently from adults in that respect.

The appellant, convicted in Youth Court, challenged the decision by the trial judge that his right to be tried within a reasonable period of time had not been infringed, arguing that the YCJA granted young persons "special guarantees" to be tried without delay. The appellant also submitted that previous jurisprudence holding that the YOA did not grant a constitutional guarantee to trial without delay should be disregarded. Beveridge J.A. disagreed, stating the YCJA did not create new requirements. Rather, the court held that the term "promptness and speed" in s. 3 of the YCJA must be read in context, and procedural fairness to the state and the accused take precedence over speed. In the case at bar the appellant was partly responsible for the delay, and Justice Beveridge held that the long period until trial did not violate the appellant's Charter rights.

September 27, 2011
Link to Decision

Adrienne Ho
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