N.S. Liberals say government failing to stem court delays as child porn case stayed

A gavel sits on a desk before the a meeting of the House Justice and Human Rights Committee in Ottawa, Wednesday February 13, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's Liberal opposition is sounding the alarm over shortfalls in court resources after a 38-year-old man charged with child pornography offences had his case stayed due to delays.

Last week, the prosecution of Nathaniel Matheson on two counts of allegedly distributing child porn was dropped by Judge Bryna Hatt in Antigonish provincial court.

She cited the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada Jordan ruling, which says defendants have the right to be tried within 18 months of being charged before provincial courts.

In her April 12 ruling, Hatt noted Matheson was charged in January 2021 and that most of the delay in his case was due to the lack of availability of a judge to hear the trial.

Data from the province's public prosecution service indicates there have been 71 applications for stays under the Jordan decision rules since 2017. As of March 20, 24 of the applications had resulted in stays.

A Jordan application is brought by the defence if they believe the delay is attributable to the Crown.

Chris Hansen, a spokeswoman for the prosecution service, said in an email the Jordan decision does allow for exceptions.

For example, the Crown has successfully argued in some cases that delays were attributable to the pandemic. But the decision on what exceptions are allowed is up to the judge.

On April 14, Justice Patrick Murray of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia stayed a prosecution against Raymond LeRoy in Sydney, N.S., whose case failed to meet the 30-month maximum delay period for superior court cases set in the Jordan decision.

"I find that Mr. LeRoy's right to a trial within a reasonable time has been violated. He has endured the stress of awaiting his trial and the toll it has taken on him," Murray wrote. LeRoy was charged with arson on Aug. 21, 2018, and his trial was scheduled to start April 28 this year.

LeRoy remains in custody due to proceedings on other charges, including aggravated assault, uttering threats, kidnapping, and weapons charges, with a trial scheduled next year.

The Liberals said in a news release Tuesday that the child porn case demonstrates the Progressive Conservative government hasn't moved swiftly enough to appoint new judges and find ways to decrease court delays.

"The government has fallen further behind on this issue, and the backlog of cases is growing harder to control," said Iain Rankin, the party's justice critic.

"Nova Scotians deserve a justice system they can count on, but because of the Tim Houston government's narrow focus, the system is failing."

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said in an email on Wednesday evening that reducing the backlog and keeping the courts running efficiently is a "high priority" for the department.

"We've also added more staff and built two criminal jury courtrooms to help improve court services," wrote Deborah Bayer.

She noted there are currently no vacancies on the provincial court bench, although there is a judge on leave.

Jennifer Stairs, a spokeswoman for the Nova Scotia courts, said in an email that two provincial court judges are retiring in the coming weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.