Supreme Court – Practice Directive
P.D. (Crim.) No. 2019-01
Rules Affected: Criminal Proceedings Rules of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, rule 14.
Effective Date: June 7, 2019
DETENTION REVIEW HEARINGS PURSUANT TO S.525 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE
Background and Purpose
1. Section 525 of the Criminal Code provides for an automatic review of a person’s pre-trial detention at set points in time after being taken into custody. The purpose of such reviews
is to consider whether the continued detention of the accused is justified and, where necessary, to expedite the individual’s trial.
2. The approach to be taken on such detention reviews was recently clarified by the Supreme Court of Canada in its decision in R. v. Myers, 2019 SCC 18. In light of this, the Court considers it advisable to issue the Practice Directive below, detailing the procedure to follow in this Court on applications for detention reviews pursuant to s. 525 of the Criminal Code.
For details, please see the attached Practice Directive.