Good morning,

Canada’s Supreme Court is the final arbiter across the country for what’s just and lawful.

Which makes Thursday’s appearance in front of the top court by lawyers for British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the federal government that much more remarkable.

The governments will argue the Supreme Court got it wrong when it imposed strict time limits for completing criminal trials and that there must be more leeway on the deadlines.

In its 2016 decision, known as Jordan, the Supreme Court cited a pervasive culture of complacency around delays that had become endemic in the justice system.

The Supreme Court declared that unless there are exceptional circumstances, criminal trials must be completed in provincial courts within 18 months from the day a person is charged, and within 30 months in superior courts.

That has roiled the courts since.

As David Ebner reports this week, new Statistics Canada data show that about 10,000 criminal cases a year have been derailed in recent years, with the accused walking free.

Those trials include several alleged murders and hundreds of alleged sexual assaults.

In an interview, B.C. Attorney-General and Deputy Premier Niki Sharma said there’s a need to take another look at Jordan.

“We’re not saying that timelines aren’t important, but should it just be that you fall off a cliff after a certain time?” Sharma said.

Ebner notes that in September, 22 plaintiffs with cases of alleged sexual violence that were affected by Jordan filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the federal government. They are seeking $22-million in damages.

Their court filings detail gutting personal stories. In one, Melanie Hatton was allegedly nearly killed by her ex-husband four years ago in an attack in their home in front of their children. The trial was set to start about 21 months later. The charges were stayed. “She has since been in constant fear for her life,” the lawsuit states.

But it is a different case, one concerning Robert Vrbanic, previously accused of drug trafficking in Ontario, that is providing governments with a chance to challenge the Jordan time limits in front of the Supreme Court.

Vrbanic’s case had run four days past the Jordan clock and the charges were stayed by the Ontario Court of Justice, a decision which the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld.

The appeal to the Supreme Court is complicated, but the federal government has asked the top court to overturn the Vrbanic stay and return the case for trial. The stay “undermines public confidence in the administration of justice,” lawyers for the federal Public Prosecution Service argue.

“Justice is not always mathematically quantifiable.”

British Columbia, in its filing as an intervener, asked for more judicial discretion in cases that are close to the line. Lawyers for the province said an automatic stay is a “devastating consequence for the truth-seeking function of a trial.”

Defence lawyers argue there is no evidence to justify departing from Jordan. Blame should be cast on governments’ failure to reform the system, said Frank Addario, who is arguing the case on behalf of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association.

The federal government is also planning to table legislative changes by mid-December to help address the problem of so many serious cases being tossed because of delays.

This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.