Between four and 20 peremptory challenges had been permitted, depending on the crime. Indigenous leaders had long decried the tactical practice of keeping First Nations people off juries via peremptory challenges, with an Indigenous accused in the box. Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon decided the new rules should be applied, denying peremptory challenges. The Appeal Court decision upheld the constitutionality of the new rules: banning peremptory challenges and permitting the trial judge to exclusively rule on challenges for cause. The court system will doubtless be choked with applications for mistrials and new trials for convictions.

Source: thestar January 27, 2020 01:18 UTC