Charges against a North Huron farmer have been "stayed."
The charges related to the removal of trees from property owned by Terry Brake.
Greg Stewart, the lawyer for the county and the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, says the charges were laid in 2015. However, a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016 relating to the time between when a charge was laid and when it was dealt with in court removed the onus on the defendant to prove some prejudice to them by any delay to the Crown to explain the delay.
The time limit was set at eighteen months and was retroactive to include any charges still on the books before 2016.
Stewart points out that in this case, there is no decision made on the charges that the person did - or did not - violate the bylaw or the law; it's just 'stayed', and it can't proceed because of the length of time.
