THE ADVOCATE 845
VOL. 79 PART 6 NOVEMBER 2021
In Ontario and Prince Edward Island,42 there are also legislated targets,
which permit a senior judge to relieve a judge of their other duties if a decision
has not been rendered in a matter within six months.
The courts of British Columbia have long sought to meet the six-month
target for issuing reasons. See, for example, the comments in the 1998 B.C.
Supreme Court Annual Report:
The Canadian Judicial Council has suggested that every effort be made
to ensure delivery of Reasons for Judgment within six months of the trial
completion. In most instances, members of the Court have issued Reasons
on cases within our targeted date of five months from the completion
of the trial. It is the hope of the Court that, by the end of 1999, with
the possible exception of lengthy, complicated matters, all Reasons for Judgment
will be issued within the maximum six month period.43
An analysis of the available data confirms that the courts of British
Columbia have generally been successful in meeting the six-month target
over the period 1970 to 2015. With reference to the B.C. Supreme Court’s
trial decisions, a minority (albeit an increasing minority) fall beyond the
six-month target:
Year Total number Number of trial % of trial decisions that
of trial decisions that took took longer than 183
decisions44 longer than 183 days days (six months) to
(six months) to issue issue
1970 120 3 2.5%
1980 295 6 2.0%
1990 388 25 6%
2000 309 28 9%
2010 334 34 10%
2015 310 45 14.5%
The Court of Appeal has been similarly successful for appeal decisions:
Year Total number Number of appeal % of appeal decisions
of appeals45 decisions that took that took longer than
longer than 183 days 183 days (six months)
(six months) to issue to issue
1970 NI NI —
1980 NI NI —
1990 52 0 0%
2000 276 13 5%
2010 222 12 5%
2015 204 3 1%