On December 17 of last year, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision in R. v. Dudley, 2009 SCC 58, which dealt with some of the finer points of criminal procedure; specifically, in the case of “hybrid” or “dual procedure” offences, whether the Crown’s invalid election to proceed summarily outside of the limitation period voids [...]

The Supreme Court has given leave to appeal to R. v. Dudley, a curious case that turns on an murky technicality in criminal procedure: whether a Crown’s invalid election for summary proceedings outside the limitation period effectively voids an information and precludes the Crown from re-electing. The accused in the case allegedly defrauded Alberta Human [...]