With a murder case thrown out of court days before a trial was supposed to begin, there are calls for Quebec to take extraordinary measures to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingham was due to begin a trial next week on charges of the second-degree of his estranged wife, Anuja Baskaran, in August 2012.

Baskaran, 21, was stabbed to death.

But in court this week his lawyer successfully argued that according to last year's Supreme Court decision known as the Jordan ruling, the charges against Thanalasingham should be stayed because of unreasonable delays.

According to the Jordan ruling, a trial for an accused person must begin within 18 months after charges are laid and 30 months for a jury trial.

With nearly five years passing since the murder, the Superior Court Justice Alexander Boucher agreed and ordered a halt in proceedings, saying it had taken the Crown far too long to prosecute the case.

If nothing changes, the charges will likely be dropped entirely in 12 months.

The Crown has 30 days to appeal the judge's decision.

“For me, the accused, the scales of justice are very much more outweighing the scales of justice for the victim in this case and it is a shame, because the legal system is a daunting system for women victims of conjugal violence to go through,” said Melpa Kamateros, of Shield of Athena, a group working with victims of family violence.

In the months since the Supreme Court decision many cases have been thrown out because of unreasonable delays, including murder trials in several other provinces, but this is the first murder case stopped in Quebec.

The significance of the case has Parti Quebecois Justice critic Veronique Hivon calling for the government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to prevent it happening again.

"We have asked [Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée] to use the notwithstanding clause to ensure that justice will be delivered, despite the demands of the Jordan decision," said Hivon.

She said the provincial minister has to talk to her federal counterpart, soon, before more equally serious cases are thrown out.

"Thousands of Quebecers are angry about this, and I share their anger," said Hivon. "Our level of indignation peaks when a man presumed to have killed his wife has been freed."

"Her family is being victimized again because the justice system is not able to function in a reasonable and timely fashion," said Hivon.

Governments across Canada have been trying to eliminate the delays in criminal cases.

Two weeks ago Vallée announced she had hired 18 new provincial judges, 52 more prosecutors, 60 support employees and 132 new court employees.

Vallée said the notwithstanding clause does not appear to be the right solution.

“Using the notwithstanding clause would probably create additional motion and more judicial activities and it would have an effect on the judicial system,” she said.

Vallée will be going before the Supreme Court to clarify measures it put in place to address cases that are complex or started before the Jordan decision was handed down, like this one.

Premier Philippe Couillard said no one is happy about this situation.

“I think citizens are rightfully concerned and worried about the situation. We've put significant resources in the system, nominating new judges, new prosecutors and trying to put more action in the system which I think will work,” he said, adding , however, that Quebec is still waiting for the federal government to appoint the 14 new Superior Court judges Quebec requires.

Defence lawyer Eric Sutton said he expects more cases will be tossed out in the months to come.

“I just think we have to bear in mind that the Supreme Court rendered a very clear ruling. It's not ambiguous, it's not vague, those are the new rules,” he said.

"We're in a transitional phase," said Sutton. "The minister of justice has appointed many, many new judges and the instances of judicial delay will gradually reduce."

Sutton said he understands people being emotional about accused criminals being set free without a trial, but said the public has to understand that extremely long delays in criminal trials are also a problem.

"Some very serious cases that we are seeing are being stayed. I think in the not too distant future we will not be talking about Jordan," said Sutton.