Her Majesty the Queen v. Mélanie Ste-Marie, et al. is a Crown appeal from a decision of the Québec Court of Appeal, where the appeal court stayed the proceedings following a breach of s. 11(b) of the Charter. Part of this hearing is in French.

The accused, now the Respondents before the Supreme Court, were charged with conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime, laundering proceeds of crime, and commission of an offence for a criminal organization. In the Court of Québec, the respondents had moved for a stay of proceedings for unreasonable delay under s. 11(b). The Court of Québec estimated that the total delay was 77 months. The Court found that s. 11(b) of the Charter had been infringed, but declined to stay the proceedings. The Respondents were ultimately convicted.

They appealed their convictions to the Québec Court of Appeal. The appeal court was asked to determine whether the Court of Québec had erred in declining to stay the proceedings after finding unreasonable delay.

The Court of Appeal allowed the respondents’ appeals, quashed the convictions and ordered a stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeal found that the Court of Québec had erred in assuming that the appropriate remedy following a breach of s. 11(b) includes a measure of discretion that allows a judge to decline a stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeal held that a long line of jurisprudence since R. v. Rahey, [1987] 1 SCR 588 has held that the only available remedy for a finding of unreasonable delay is a stay of proceedings. Second, the Court of Appeal held that it was an error for the Court of Québec to consider the issue of prejudice as a factor relevant to the determination of remedy.

The Crown has appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada after being granted leave to appeal by the Court.