R v Williamson

R v Williamson is a leading Supreme Court of Canada case in which the Court ruled that Section 3 the Charter of Rights and Freedoms prohibited undue delays in criminal proceedings. The right to be tried within reasonable time was, in Williamson's case, delayed nearly three years between the laying of charges and the end of trial. The justices weighed whether the accused’s right to be tried within reasonable time under s. 11(b) of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was infringed, and found a new framework for determining s. 11(b) infringement.[1][2][3]

R. v. Williamson
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: October 7, 2015
Judgment: July 8, 2016
Full case nameHer Majesty The Queen v Kenneth Gavin Williamson
Citations2016 SCC 28
Docket No.36112
RulingAppeal dismissed
Court membership
Reasons given

The Court used the ratio decidendi of R v Jordan (2016).[1]

Background

The case involved the sexual abuse of a minor (Ruttan) at the hands of a Queen's University student (Williamson) who was given authority over him by the judiciary in Kingston.[4][5]

In the summer of 2017, Ruttan obtained permission from the Court for The Globe and Mail to disclose his name.[4]

At the age of 12, Ruttan began skipping school and stealing money from his mother. The Children’s Aid Society intervened, and Ruttan ended up in Kingston child-protection court. In 1979, a judge found his mother unable to care for him and ordered Ruttan to accept a mentor, Williamson, who was a 26-year-old student working towards a Bachelor of Education degree at the University. Williamson met Ruttan through a juvenile diversion program designed to place boys with positive male role models. Williamson then used his court-sanctioned influence to consistently sexually assault Ruttan.[5][4]

References
  1. "R. v. Williamson, 2016 SCC 28 (CanLII), [2016] 1 SCR 741". Canadian Legal Information Institute.
  2. "Justice delayed for child-abuse victim Byron Ruttan as Ontario fights his civil claim".
  3. "'I know the truth': A rape survivor on the line between justice delayed and justice denied".
  4. Fine, Sean (29 December 2019). "'People understand me now': Byron Ruttan is finally at peace after a 40-year quest for justice". The Globe and Mail Inc.
  5. "Jean Royce Hall sexual abuse case comes to a conclusion". The Queen's Journal. 10 January 2020.
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