MONTREAL -- Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingham, this man who avoided a trial for his wife's murder because of the Jordan rule, will never be tried in Quebec for the crime after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling Friday.
In a unanimous decision, the court determined that the constitutional human right to stand trial within a reasonable time had been infringed upon. It was therefore justified to order a stay of proceedings, the court wrote.
In the case in question, Thanabalasingham, a refugee from Sri Lanka and Canadian permanent resident, was charged with his wife's second-degree murder, accused of having her throat cut.
He was arrested on the day of the murder, Aug. 11, 2012.
The stay was ordered in 2017 because he had no trial date almost five years after his arrest.
The Supreme Court's Jordan ruling established maximum time limits for proceedings, and the accused successfully invoked it. Thanabalasingham was released, causing an outcry among the population.
A few days later, Thanabalasingham was deported to Sri Lanka after an expulsion order on July 5, 2017.
The Crown continued to appeal the courts to try Thanabalasingham for murder, but failed after the Court of Appeal ruled that the stay of proceedings was warranted.
The SCC agreed with the Court of Appeal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2020.
