Section 579 permits the Attorney General, or counsel instructed by him, to direct the clerk or other proper officer of the court to make an entry on the record that the proceedings are stayed by his/her direction. Proceedings stayed in accordance with section 579 may be re-commenced without laying a new information or preferring a new indictment by giving notice of the re-commencement to the clerk of the court within one year after the entry of the stay of proceedings. If no re-commencement takes place, the proceedings shall be deemed never to have been commenced.
This discretion given to the Attorney General is outside the direction or control of the trial Judge. When the stay is directed the prosecution is ended. The proceedings may be stayed as soon as an information has been laid and even before the accused has been served with process. A stay of proceedings also terminates any detention or release order that has been made in relation to the stayed charge.2
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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