R V Askov Case Study

Elijah Askov and three of his friends were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion in November 1983 against Peter Belmont . The trial had been delayed until September 1986, almost two years after the preliminary trial. The Supreme Court of Canada had established the criteria and standards that Canadian Courts judge whether an accused’s rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms have been infringed. Under S.11 of the Charter states that anyone charged has the right to be tried within a reasonable time frame.

Askov and his friends successfully argued that the criminal charges against them should be stayed on the grounds that their trial had been unreasonably delayed contrary to the Charter’s guarantee under Section 11. The Supreme Court disagreed with the Court of Appeal of Ontario, saying that they found the delays were unreasonable and directed a stay of proceedings against the appellants. This resulted in thousands of criminal charges being stayed, and served as a wake up call to the Crown that due to the serious ramifications of a criminal charge on the life of an accused, charges must be dealt with and decided quickly and expediently. (http://www.chartercases.com/r-v-askov-1990-2-s-c-r-1199/) …show more content…
Askov decided that criminal cases must be brought to trial in six to eight months. It is a reasonable as after a few months, memories begin to fail and everyone involved in the trail, from police to eyewitnesses, become less reliable.