An internal review has been launched, relating to a sexual assault case – that was eventually thrown out of court by a judge, because it took too long to get to court.

The case centres around ‘Arizona’ – who CTV News has chosen not to identify - because she alleges she was sexually assaulted by a relative for eight years.

Arizona reported the repeated sexual assaults to police three years ago, and charges were laid.

“The ball was rolling, he was going to have to answer to what had been done,” Arizona said.

Her family said the accused and his lawyer delayed the case for the first year and a half, and said they weren’t ready.

Then, the Crown Prosecutor changed.

“It was our desire to bring this case to court, and have a judge determine the guilt or innocence of the accused,” Assistant Deputy Minister of Justice Gregory Lepp. “That unfortunately didn’t happen.”

The judge threw the case out of court, dropping the charges and a restraining order against the accused, because in 38 months the case had not made it trial.

The defense argued that was unreasonable, and the Crown Prosecutor agreed.

Under the Charter of Rights a trial needs to be held within a reasonable amount of time, however, there is no definition of what is reasonable.

Now, the provincial opposition is weighing in, and said this case is evidence of a major problem in the justice system.

“There is an epidemic shortage of Crown Prosecutors and staff needed to properly try these violent cases,” Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson said.

An internal review is underway, to find out where the system broke down in this case.

The premier addressed the case briefly, but said it’s in the hands of officials tasked with investigating what happened.

“I don’t think it is appropriate right now for this to be a political issue, there is a person who it was suggested has been impacted and we need to find out what the facts are, and let the system do its job,” Premier Alison Redford said.

For Arizona, she told CTV News the justice system failed her.

“There is absolutely nothing I can do, and nobody to fix it or make right what happened to me.”

With files from Kevin Armstrong