Black people in criminal courts in Canada: An exploration using the relative rate index

With an official policy on multiculturalism, a robust human rights framework and a culturally diverse nation, Canada has often been praised for demonstrating federal leadership in promoting diversity, inclusion and equity. However, these efforts and initiatives hide important historical and current injustices experienced by Black people in Canada. Black communities have existed and contributed to Canadian society for generations; however, their long and unique history is also characterized by colonialism, slavery, segregation, and restrictive immigration practices. Today, they continue to face challenges that arise from this historical legacy, namely systemic discrimination and inequalities in various social spheres, including the criminal justice system (CJS).

Criminal justice data disaggregated by racialized identity remain fairly limited and underreported. The available literature suggests that Black people face differential treatment in their contact with police and are disproportionately represented in custody (Wortley & Owusu-Bempah, 2022; Owusu-Bempah & Jeffers, 2022; Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2022). However, there are important data gaps on the representation of Black people in other areas of the criminal justice system, namely the courts.

This study contributes to the existing literature by providing the first estimates of Black representation among accused in Canadian criminal courts. This work also provides an indication of the extent to which Black accused experience different and disproportionate outcomes, relative to White accused, at various stages of the Canadian criminal court process. The research addresses four key objectives:

1. identify whether the criminal court process itself contributes to the overrepresentation of Black people in the CJS;
2. identify disproportionality in court outcomes of Black accused, compared to White accused, at key stages/decision points of the criminal court process;
3. identify whether other sociodemographic variables (e.g., sex and age group) affect the level of disproportionate outcomes experienced by Black accused at key stages/decision points of the criminal court process; and
4. identify areas that warrant further exploration and data development.

This work was part of the Department of Justice Canada’s commitment to review the CJS and broader efforts to identify and address data gaps that hinder evidence-based decision-making. More specifically, this work is centered around Justice Canada’s commitment to address systemic racism and the overrepresentation of Black people in the CJS (Office of the Prime Minister, 2021).

Relative rate indexes (RRIs) were calculated to compare court outcomes of Black accused to those of White accused^Footnote2 at key stages/decision points of the criminal court process. The RRI method involves comparing the rate with which a selected group (Black accused) experiences a court outcome (e.g., guilty finding, custodial sentence) to the rate of a comparison group (White accused) experiencing that same outcome. For each court stage/decision point, the RRI provides an indication of the extent to which the rate for Black accused experiencing a particular court outcome is higher than, similar to or lower than the rate for White accused.

This method has been used in different countries to assess the disproportionate level of contact of racialized groups with the CJS. For example, the United States has used the RRI method to identify and monitor the extent of disproportionate contact of racialized youth with the youth justice system (Rovner, 2014). The United Kingdom also recently used this method to identify the extent of disproportionate contact of racialized groups at key stages of the CJS (Uhrig, 2016). This method was applied for the first time in Canada to examine court outcomes for Indigenous accused in the CJS (see: Indigenous People in Criminal Court in Canada: An Exploration Using the Relative Rate Index). This report presents the analysis of outcomes for Black accused in Canada’s CJS using this method and provides the first national statistics on Black accused in criminal courts.

Finally, it is important to note that RRIs only indicate the level of representation at specific junctures of the criminal court process. They do not take into account various factors that may explain the results, such as individual or offence characteristics that may have an impact on the court outcomes examined. For instance, this study did not assess whether Black and White accused differed in the types of offences they allegedly committed, which may also affect the likelihood of encountering a court outcome, such as being sentenced to custody. Further, the national level RRIs do not account for jurisdictional differences in court proceedings and reporting standards of court outcomes. Finally, RRIs do not provide an explanation of why disproportionality may be occurring at specific stages of the criminal court process. To address these questions, the report references existing studies that provide insight as to why the observed outcomes may be occurring. In other instances, the report identifies the need to undertake additional studies to better understand the outcomes.