352
Opinion of the Court
that the IAD dictates the result we must reach, for Article V(c) directs dismissal with prejudice when Article IV(c)'s time limit has passed.10 Article V(c) instructs only that "the appropriate court of the jurisdiction where the indictment . . . has been pending"—i. e., the original trial court—shall dismiss the charges if trial does not commence within the time Article IV(c) prescribes. Article V(c) does not address the discrete question whether relief for violations of the IAD's speedy trial provisions is available on collateral review. That matter is governed instead by the principles and precedent generally controlling availability of the great writ. See id., at 212. Referring to those guides, and particularly the Hill and Timmreck decisions, we conclude that a state court's failure to observe the 120-day rule of IAD Article IV(c) is not cognizable under § 2254 when the defendant registered no objection to the trial date at the time it was set, and suffered no prejudice attributable to the delayed commencement.
III
Reed argues that he is entitled to habeas relief because the IAD's speedy trial provision "effectuates a constitutional right," the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a speedy trial. Brief for Petitioner 26. Accordingly, he maintains, the alleged IAD violation should be treated as a constitutional violation or as a "fundamental defect" satisfying the Hill standard, not as a mere technical error. Reed's argument is insubstantial for, as he concedes, his constitutional right to a speedy trial was in no way violated. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 7.
10 Article V(c) provides in relevant part: "[I]n the event that an action on the indictment, information, or complaint on the basis of which the detainer has been lodged is not brought to trial within the period provided in article III or article IV hereof, the appropriate court of the jurisdiction where the indictment, information, or complaint has been pending shall enter an order dismissing the same with prejudice, and any detainer based thereon shall cease to be of any force or effect."
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