Lingering vacancies at Sask. Court of King's Bench contributing to delays, potential case dismissals
CBC
The father of Saskatoon murder victim Megan Gallagher knows all about justice delayed.
Brian Gallagher's concern now is the possibility of justice denied.
Megan Gallagher was last seen leaving a friend's house in on Sept. 19, 2020. Her remains were discovered two years later in the South Saskatchewan River near St. Louis, about 100 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.
Three of the four people accused of murdering the 30-year-old are scheduled to stand trial in 2025 — more than two years after they were charged. The fourth man, Robert Thomas, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder.
The passage of time brings the Gallaghers a fresh set of concerns. A 2016 Supreme Court ruling, known as the Jordan decision, set a cap of 30 months for King's Bench cases to be resolved or face possible dismissal.
"Just trying to process it emotionally, it's really challenging," Brian said in an interview.
"This whole process has been very long, over two years. It's put our lives on hold."
A chronic shortage of judges at Court of King's Bench is not the only reason the process is moving slowly, but everyone from Chief Justice Martel Popescul down to the lawyers waiting to argue cases agree that it's an element, and it could have real consequences.
"I think we're going to see some cases dismissed, some serious, serious cases dismissed," said Brian Pfefferle, president of the Saskatoon Criminal Defence Lawyers Association.
"We will see cases dismissed on delay that no one wants to see dismissed."
Martel Popescul became the top judge at King's Bench in 2011. By federal law, the court is supposed to have 38 full-time judges, but it has been shy of that number since 2015. The current total is 34.
"The impact is that we have less wiggle room," Popescul said in an interview.
"It becomes more of a challenge if a judge gets sick or cases that are scheduled for one week go into two weeks."
The pace of new cases hasn't slowed.
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