Court Date almost a year year after ticket issued

[kevo420]

hi,

i got a speeding ticket on december 22, 2005. My court date is december 13, 2006. Is this long enough to use section 11(b) of the charter of rights and freedoms as a defense? i should mention that i'm in ontario and section 11(b) is

Any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time. I know that after a year it is no problem to get thrown out but this is REALLY close... so think it is possible i can get it quashed?

[aaron]

Do you have any idea why it took so long for your court date to be scheduled?

[kevo420]

right now (well not right now at the time the ticket was issued) there was a backlog in toronto courts because of a lack of JP's for whatever reason. The fault being on their end not my own. Understanding that a reasonable time allows for required evidence gathering, this is a speeding ticket under 49km/h over the limit... all evidence is gathered at the time of the violation and no further invesitgation is required, now i went to court today and learned that if you have to wait OVER a year the ticket is automatically dismissed which is fortunate because i have two more and the court dates are over a year from the time they were issued

But if i wanted to argue section 11(B) i would have had to file a notice of constitutional question at least 15 days prior to the court date which i was unaware of. sometime between the period of 8-12 months it is possible to get dismissed but you have to file a motion like i said. If you do not do so then you cannot take that defence. But fortunately i talked down from $265 +4 points to 0 points and a $37.50 fine. not dissapointed at all