‘Graveyard of preventable deaths’: IPV survivors sue Canadian government

Systemic failures
The suit contains nine claims mostly centred around the infringement of rights under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“The plaintiffs allege that systemic failures by the federal government, particularly since the Supreme Court’s 2016 R v. Jordan decision, have caused severe injustice and left dangerous offenders on the streets,” Marshall said in a March 31 news release.

“The Jordan decision, intended to protect defendants’ rights to timely trials, has inadvertently led to the dismissal or staying of hundreds of sexual assault and IPV charges due to court backlogs and inadequate funding.”

The lawsuit seeks “declarations that their charter rights have been violated and demand immediate and systemic reforms, including judicial appointments and resources to eliminate trial delays.”

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, people accused of crimes are entitled to be tried within a reasonable time.

With the Jordan ruling, the Supreme Court has set limits on how long cases can take to go to trial.

For provincial court cases, the limit is 18 months from charges being laid to the end of the trial.

The limit for superior court trials is 30 months.
“A staggering half of the cases in Canada’s criminal justice system are related to sexual assault (SA) or IPV, with only five per cent of SA cases resulting in a conviction and 30 per cent of IPV cases being stayed (thrown out) because of the Jordan decision,” Marshall said.

The claim states the majority of IPV and sexual assault cases in Canada take more than 30 months to be resolved.

“Nearly half of the female population experiences IPV in their lifetime, and one in four women will face severe forms of IPV, such as physical assault, sexual assault and stalking,” the claim said.

“Sexual violence is even more prevalent—one in three women will experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetime.”

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