Kyla on CTV News: Time limits meant to speed up justice have halted hundreds of criminal cases in Canada

When police turned up at Melanie Hatton’s home in Kelowna, B.C., in November 2021, she says they found her in the bathroom covered in blood, her then-husband Jeffrey Maclean was standing over her “in an aggressive manner.”

She describes a gruesome scene in a court filing, with blood from her head wound allegedly smeared on Maclean’s mouth from his whispering in her ear. The filing in a civil lawsuit against Maclean says he told a 911 operator his wife was “bleeding like a pig.”

Vancouver defence lawyer Kyla Lee, who specializes in impaired driving cases, said Jordan has had a “huge negative impact on not just my practice, but the practice of law generally for criminal lawyers.”

“The problem is that now every time you go to court, no matter what the purpose of the appearance is, there is always a discussion about Jordan,” she said. “It comes up at every single appearance and it’s gotten to the point where the ceilings in Jordan are effectively being weaponized against accused individuals.”

With a busy schedule, finding court dates that work for both her and prosecutors is challenging, and the inability to agree results in arguments over who’s to blame. Judges have to conduct “microscopic analysis” to determine the length and cause of trial delays, Lee said.

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