Alberta’s Criminal Justice Division has finished a review of a sexual assault case that was stayed after it took too long to go to trial and has released recommendations to ensure all cases involving serious and violent crimes reach trial.

A serious sexual assault case in Airdrie was thrown out last fall after a three year delay in prosecution.

A review of that case prompted Alberta Justice to release a report that aims to decrease times to trial and increase compassion and respect for the victims of sexual assault.

"My goal, with the full implementation of the actions set out in this report, is that no serious violent cases are lost due to delay in Alberta," said Greg Lepp, Assistant Deputy Minister of Criminal Justice.

The report identified immediate and long-term steps and the government is taking the following actions to help make sure all cases involving serious and violent crimes reach trial:

  • Assigning a dedicated Crown prosecutor to serious and violent cases earlier in the judicial process and expanding this approach outside Edmonton and Calgary;
  • Shifting cases to other courts, with more courtroom availability, to shorten time to trial;
  • Enhancing education of Crown prosecutors in prosecuting sexual assaults;
  • Improving the triage process to ensure violent criminal cases reach trial:
  • Allowing preliminary hearing dates to be set before pre-preliminary inquiry meetings are complete, which will speed up the time to trial;
  • Increasing the use of direct indictments to allow cases to proceed directly to trial;
  • Increasing the use of pre-charge consultation with police for serious and violent cases;
  • Reducing the court time and resources required to address more than a million traffic tickets handed out annually;
  • Adding additional sitting dates and Provincial Court resources; and,
  • Continuing to advocate for the elimination of preliminary inquiries.

Alberta Justice and Solicitor General will also continue to educate Crown prosecutors regarding how to handle sexual assault cases and will distribute a new guide for investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases.