Final report on the review of Canada’s criminal justice system
What we are already doing
The federal government has already taken concrete steps to begin to improve the effectiveness of our criminal justice system. It has also begun to reflect some of the perspectives presented during the consultations from Canadians about how the system should change.
Below are some program changes in development:
- The Government of Canada has developed an improved approach to administration of justice offences
- The Department of Justice is developing a performance monitoring framework to identify and address data gaps and enhance the availability and accessibility of information on the performance of the criminal justice system
- Federal/provincial/territorial ministers responsible for justice have endorsed the increased use of restorative justice and approved key principles to govern its application in criminal matters
- Federal funding for criminal legal aid has been increased to support more legal aid services for economically disadvantaged Canadians
- Federal support for the Indigenous Justice Program and the Indigenous Courtwork Program has been increased to help address gaps in services to Indigenous people throughout the criminal justice system
- In collaboration with the provinces and territories, development of a Pan-Canadian strategy to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous persons within the criminal justice system
The Government of Canada has advanced a number of legislative initiatives to make the criminal law fairer, clearer, more relevant and more accessible, while also strengthening public safety.
Parliament enacted the following bills:
- Bill C-16 amended the Criminal Code to provide greater protection against hate speech for trans and gender diverse Canadians
- Bill C-45 enacted a new regime to legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis
- Bill C-46 amended the Criminal Code to modernize Canada’s impaired-driving laws and to restructure and modernize the entire Criminal Code transportation regime
- Bill C-51 amended the Criminal Code to (1) codify and clarify certain aspects of sexual assault law to prevent incorrect applications of the law and to make the criminal justice system more compassionate towards complainants in sexual assault matters; (2) remove provisions that have been found unconstitutional, while also proposing other Charter-related reforms; and, (3) remove a number of obsolete or redundant provisions
- Bill C-51 also amended the Department of Justice Act to create a new duty for the Minister of Justice to table Charter statements for all government bills, which would outline a bill’s potential effects on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Legislation (former Bill C-75) to modernize the criminal justice system and reduce delays received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. These comprehensive legislative changes mark an important milestone in strengthening, transforming and modernizing our criminal justice system. Together, these comprehensive changes will help bring about a much needed culture shift in the way our criminal justice system operates. These measures will also help reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people and vulnerable populations in the criminal justice system, including people with addictions and mental illness. This legislation will:
- limit the use of preliminary inquiries to more serious offences to help criminal cases proceed efficiently to trial
- strengthen responses to intimate partner violence
- streamline bail processes to ensure swifter access to justice
- provide judges with more robust tools they need to manage the cases before them
- improve the jury selection process to ensure that juries are more representative of the Canadian population
- provide more discretion on administration of justice offences
- reclassify offences to allow courts to deal more efficiently with less serious matters, freeing up limited resources for more serious offences
- improve the victim surcharge regime by providing discretion to judges
- facilitate the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking offences
- remove laws that the Supreme Court of Canada has found unconstitutional
The Government of Canada has also modernized the judicial appointments process to build a more diverse bench.
Together, these program and legislative reforms represent initial but important steps towards updating and improving Canada’s criminal justice system. They also support a number of initiatives in the provinces and territories to address criminal justice system delays.
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