Not enough judges and not enough court time to accommodate an interpreter have meant that all charges against four Cantonese-speaking men accused of killing two endangered Roosevelt elk on Vancouver Island have been stayed.
A trial was scheduled to start in October, two years after the charges were laid, but Duncan Provincial Court Judge Josiah Wood noted that this delay was unreasonable, said Neil MacKenzie, communications counsel for B.C.'s criminal justice branch. On Aug. 30, Judge Wood suspended the proceedings.
The delays, involving 10 court appearances since January, 2010, were in part because the four men did not speak English.
Since an interpreter was needed for all testimony, the trial would have taken at least four days.
Because the interpreter, and usually the judge, travel from a larger city to Duncan, it was preferable to have one uninterrupted trial, Mr. MacKenzie said.
But tying up a court room and securing a judge for four full days is difficult in a small place like Duncan, said Hans J.R. Doehring, lawyer for the accused.
"There were insufficient institutional resources to move this matter forward on a speedy basis," he said.
Most trials involving Wildlife Act charges are dispatched in a day or two, said John Blackman, Crown prosecutor for the case. As the environmental prosecutor for Vancouver Island, Mr. Blackman has never seen charges in a wildlife case stayed.
Li Bo Cao, Jing Pu Chen, Shuang Jun Han and Wei Guang Wang were charged in September, 2009, under B.C.'s Wildlife Act. Charges included unlawful possession of dead wildlife, hunting and killing wildlife out of season and possessing a loaded firearm.
The four were accused of killing two bull elk near Kissinger Lake, about 40 kilometres west of Duncan. The elk, part of a herd facing extinction, have been protected in that area since 1968.
The trial was first set for February, 2011, but was adjourned to October because a judge wasn't available, Mr. Doehring said.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms indicates that a trial should be held in a reasonable amount of time. In this case, a delay of 14 to 16 months would have been considered justifiable. However, the two years it would have taken because of the need for translation is excessive, said Mr. Doehring, who also required an interpreter to speak to his clients.
Frustrated by the lack of court time, Mr. Blackman said he wonders whether Judge Wood was making a point about excessive delays by staying the charges.
Neither prosecution nor defence are to blame, Mr. Doehring noted. The justice system's efficiency is eroded because it isn't properly financed, he said.
In July, the province appointed five new provincial court judges, bringing the total number to 130 full-time positions, but still 12 less than what existed in 2005.
While tens of thousands of cases make it to trial in B.C. each year, only a small percentage don't, Mr. MacKenzie said. But the numbers are rising. Lately, charges have been stayed in several cases each month on Vancouver Island alone, he said.
According to the B.C. Crown Counsel Association, about 2,100 provincial court cases are more than 18 months old.
While Mr. Doehring would not comment on his clients, the men did have B.C. hunting licences, Mr. Blackman said.
The two male elk were likely shot for their meat and antlers, Mr. Blackman said.
Elk antler is a prized ingredient in oriental medicine, used to treat arthritis or as an aphrodisiac.
The Crown is considering whether to appeal Judge Wood's decision.