Ottawa appoints four new judges to Superior Court of Quebec

Less than a week after meeting with QuebecJustice Minister Stphanie Valle, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has appointed four new justicesto the Superior Court of Quebec's Montreal district.

The new justices are:

• Karen M. Rogers, a partner with the firm Langlois Avocats. Hers is a new position.

• Christine Baudouin, a lawyer with the firm Casavant Mercier Avocats, replaces Justice Marc De Wever.

• Frdric Bachand, an associate professor of law at McGill University, replaces Justice SylvieDeVito.

• Daniel Royer, a Quebec Crown prosecutor, replaces Madam Justice Pepita Capriolo.

The appointments leave two vacancies on the Superior Court, and the fourfall well short of the 14 more judgesthat Vallesaid Quebec needsin order to improve wait times and prevent those facing prosecution from using the Supreme Court of Canada's Jordan rulingon unreasonable delays to escape justice.

• Justice ministers craft plan to unclog court systems
• More judges, prosecutors hired to reduce delays in Quebec's justice system

In April, Valle issued an appeal to her federal counterpart in the wake of a number of cancelled trials and demanded a timetable from Ottawa. In response, she was reassured that Wilson-Raybould would appoint judges "very soon."

The federal budget for 2017 provided $55 million for the appointment of 28 new judges to higher level courts across the country.

Twelve of these new positions will be allocated to Alberta and one to the Yukon. The remaining 15 appointments are to be allocated tothe remaining nine provinces and two territories.

A statement from the federal Justice Department said the four Quebec Superior Court appointments announced today are separate from those announced in the 2017 budget.

Jordan ruling

In July 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada's Jordan decision setstrict time limits for criminal proceedings 18 months from the time of arrest to the trial's endat provincial court and up to 30 months for cases at the higher court level.

Delays beyond these periods are presumed to be unreasonable and violate the rights of the accused, according to the ruling.

• IN DEPTH:Criminal courts scramble to meet Supreme Court's new trial timelines
• The Jordan Ruling Chaos

According to data compiled by Quebec's Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), 822 requests for stays of proceedings due to the Jordan ruling had been registered in Quebec by April 20.

Two Quebec murder trials have been set aside because of unreasonable delays.

Ryan Wolfson was charged with the murder of Pierre-Paul Fortier and attempted murder of Dannick Lessard in connection with events in October 2012.

His case was stayed April 21 when a judge ruled it had taken too long to come to trial.

Earlier in April, SivaloganathanThanabalasingam, who had been charged in 2012 with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, became the first Quebecer to havehis case stayed.

The province's director of prosecutions is appealing both of those decisions.

• Quebec Crown appeals murder charge stayed due to Jordan ruling
• Quebec Crown appeals decision to stay murder charge of convicted killer Ryan Wolfson