Half of accused in Laval corruption bust want their charges thrown out

More than a dozenpeople arrested in connection with the same police operation that brought down former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourtare trying to have their charges thrown out, citingdelays in the justice system.

Vaillancourtwas arrested in spring 2013as part of a sweepby the province's anti-corruption unit, known asUPAC. He pleaded guilty to several charges earlier this month.

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Along with the mayor, 33 others were charged for allegedly taking part ina system of corruption in the awarding of public contracts by the City of Laval between 1996 and 2010.

According to Radio-Canada, at least 14 of the 33 are seeking a stay in proceedings, invoking a recent Supreme Court ruling that limits the amount of time theaccused cancan wait to stand trial.

The R. v.Jordan ruling imposeda deadline of 18 months for provincial court cases, and 30 months for Superior Court, in order to uphold the accused's Charter right to a trial without unreasonable delays.

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Two separate trials

Those arrested in the Laval operationare accused of conspiracy, fraud and corruption in municipal affairs. If their cases go to trial, they'll be heard in Quebec Superior Court.

The Crown has asked the judge to divide the group and hold two separate trials:one for elected officials, civil servants and engineers, and the other for contractors.

Since theJordan ruling,Quebec courts have received dozens of applications to have cases thrown out because of lengthy delays.

The Quebec government has promised to reinvest up to $200 million in the province's justice system over the next four years to deal with the backlog of cases.

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