Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench is facing a record backlog of criminal and civil cases, with defence lawyers warning that constitutional timelines under the Jordan decision are being breached and serious charges are at risk of being stayed.
According to data obtained by WestNet News through a freedom-of-information request, the average time from charge to trial in Calgary has grown to 28 months for superior court matters — well beyond the 30-month ceiling established by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Jordan.
Judicial Vacancies at the Core
The Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association of Alberta says the root cause is a shortage of federally appointed judges. Of 21 authorized positions on the Calgary bench, four have been vacant for more than a year. "Every vacant seat means hundreds of trial dates that simply don’t exist," said association president Karen Molle. "Justice delayed is justice denied — that’s not a slogan, it’s a constitutional principle."
Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani’s office said appointments are "progressing through the independent advisory process" but declined to provide a timeline.
Impact on Victims and Accused
The delays affect everyone in the system. Crown prosecutors report that witnesses become uncooperative or unreachable as cases drag on, while accused persons — some on restrictive bail conditions — have their lives suspended for years before resolution.
"I had a client on a house-arrest condition for 26 months before his trial even started," said Calgary defence lawyer Raj Bhatia. "He lost his job, his marriage suffered. Even after acquittal, you don’t get those years back."
The Alberta government has called on Ottawa to fill the vacancies "without further delay," with Justice Minister Mickey Amery writing to his federal counterpart in January. Legal observers say the situation is a test of whether Canada’s justice system can uphold its own constitutional standards.