Canadian Criminal Justice System

In the units covered in this second part of the reflection report, I learnt a lot about the Canadian criminal justice process. There are set rules that guides the justice system and these rules are also followed when conducting investigations and convicting or releasing an accused. The ‘Vision Impact Statement’ gave me an insight on how victims are sometimes treated by the law. We normally hear news about various cases but we actually do not know what victims go through just to get justice. While the law tries to involve victims in investigations, victims’ testimonies are still influenced. This made me understand why people sometimes don’t want to go to court as they see it as a waste of time and money. I never knew some lawyers were manipulative as I always seen them as the perfect solution when it comes to court cases. It added to my knowledge of how the justice system

The government guarantees everyone due process as it believes that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The justice system’s work is to ensure that laws are enforced in order to provide peaceful dispute settlement and order in the society. The Canadian legal system is based on a heritage of rule of law, freedom under the law, democratic principles and due process. (Daniel C. Préfontaine & Joanne Lee 1998) While there exists attacks on the judiciary from the media with the relationship between the media and the judiciary becoming particularly strained in recent democratic societies, because greater access to technology and the constitutional right to freedom of expression have allowed the media to have an increasingly visible role especially in criminal trials (D. C. Préfontaine & J. Lee 1998 and G. Antonacci, 2013) for failure to uphold rule of law especially in dealing with First Nations people, this paper will seek to explain how enforcement of the rule of law and due process supports the concept of justice in this

James Dignan’s concepts related to offenders, but mostly, related to victims. In his work “The victim in restorative justice” (2007), he argues that restorative justice “has a tendency to focus primarily on offenders and reconviction rates rather than on victim-related concerns” (p.309). Dignan goes on explaining that only after Braithwaite’s theory became more developed in Australia and New Zealand, the role of victims became clearer (Dignan, 2007). He says that there are beneficial distinctions between reciprocal benefits and one-sided benefits, depending on the interaction of the

The Criminal Justice System [in Canada] aims to “deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent” (Garside, 2008), however, this definition curated by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is inherently vague and does not encompass numerous vital aspects associated with the criminal justice system. A key component in the institutional structure of the criminal justice system is the involvement and integration of the government. In Canada, the government openly plays an integral role in the formations of policies, regulations, and procedures within the justice system, however, policies, regulations and procedures that are not directly linked to the criminal

The Canadian Criminal Justice System is a system that is rooted in fairness, justice, and equality. It does not discriminate against religion, sex, or race, and it is governed by the rule of equity. All this would suggest that the Canadian Criminal Justice System is one that Canadians can have faith in, knowing that the system will protect everyone: society from the criminals, and innocent people from wrongful incarceration. It is interesting, then, that Canadians actually have quite little faith in the system; a study done by Ipsos-Reid for Justice Canada revealed that “only 17 per cent of respondents had high confidence, while 61 per cent had moderate faith and 22 per cent had low level of trust [in the adult criminal justice system]… and only 15 per cent had a high level, 56 per cent had a moderate level and 30 per cent have low confidence [in the youth justice system].” (Harris) It is through cases such as the Steven Truscott case, the Coffin case, and the Karla Homolka case that Canadian faith in the Justice System weakens, cases where the two former individuals were wrongfully convicted of their charges, and where the latter was given a lenient sentence.

The aspect of the Canadian justice system that this article relates to is obviously policing/ law enforcement. Specifically this article goes into the regulations of policing as Ontario police officers now have to follow stricter regulations when stopping any member of the public. This is important in relation to the Canadian justice system as police officers stopping citizens is considered a controversial issue as people feel random stops or carding are considered arbitrary, and unnecessary, and this violates section 9 of the charter of rights and freedoms which states that “everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned”. (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) and Carding is “A practice by which officers stop, question,

Restorative justice is a system of criminal justice that emphasizes the rehabilitation of offenders through mending ties with the victims and the community. A better explanation of restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include everyone involved. This can lead to transformation of people, relationships and communities.

Restorative justice is a very complex process in the justice system. It is a positive program that helps in the aid of victims of crimes. The process for restorative justice is broken down into steps which map out how the process should take place. According to Johnstone, “Restorative justice is the theory that justice aids the victim and emphasizes the repair of harm caused by unjust or harmful behavior.” In my opinion the restorative justice process is a great accomplishment to the justice system. Restorative justice does not always work as intended but the theory of which it is intended for is enough to be improved upon.

The Canadian justice system is the mechanism that bears on the principle of the rule of law (English Magna Carta issued by King John in 1215). The aspect of the rule of law in Canada is that all people are subjected to the law; that no single person, no matter how important or powerful, is above the law and that the rule of law should be respected and applied equally(Griffiths p. 5). The principles of rule of law in Canada can be identified in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which administers the protection of individuals and ensures fairness during all legal proceeding (Graffiths p.6). For this being, all aspects of the criminal justice must be conducted in a way that does not disobey the rights approved to all

The criminal justice system is a set of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate laws. Different jurisdictions have diverse laws, agencies, and ways of managing criminal justice processes. In recent years, it has been debated that the criminal justice system has two primary and possibility conflicting perspectives known as the retributive justice approach and the restorative justice approach. Retributive justice and restorative justice have contrasting approaches when imposing punishment, that will be explored within this research paper, in regards to the disadvantages and potential advantages resulting from the implementation of it’s polices within the criminal justice system. These two perspectives have been implemented amongst many different criminal justice systems internationally, however the questions still remain, what is justice? And how should justice be served? This debate has created a divide between countries, due to the differing interpretations of justice and it’s response to criminal activity. The statistical information has been extracted from various online sources listed within the references as well as primary and secondary sources, “Prisons” by Haley, James and “Alternatives to Prisons” by Jennifer Skancke.

Crime as explained by Howard Zehr as “a violation of a person by another person” (Zehr 182). When justice is to be applied in a restorative method, it seeks to identify the larger needs and obligations; it addresses the victim-offender relationship, as well as focuses on problem solving of current and future intensions

Restorative justice is not a complete new phenomenon. Similar principles can be recognised in the Anglo-Saxon law, and even earlier such as Roman Law or the Code of Hammurabi c. 2000 BC (D van Ness). Also, it resembles with system of justice practiced in the Aboriginal and Native American communities, but with time, societies have turned away from this kind of practice, later coming back to it as seen in the last decades. Restorative justice has emerged as an alternative to retributive penal system; it offers a change of perspective to the classic system of justice, thus building on the premise of a participatory approach in resolving conflict and repairing the harm. The new penal philosophy assumes that all parties should be involved in the response to crime, the victim, offender and the community. Under this philosophy criminal liability is based on understanding the harm and the damages that the offender produced.

There are five rationales or justifications that are referenced when issuing a punishment to a criminal offender (Bohl & Haley, 2001). The first is retribution, a form or revenge or just deserts, in other words, a form of payback. The second is incapacitation, incarceration for a period making it near impossible for an offender to commit more crime. The third is deterrence, a form of punishment is issued in hopes of preventing the offender from committing the crime again. The fourth is rehabilitation, attempting to modify the behavior through training and therapy. The firth is restoration, this rationale pertains to the victims and their families, providing the victim with various rights in an attempt to restore their lives back to a similar

The definition of the word “justice” according to Merriam-Webster is, “the quality of being just, impartial, or fair” (“Definition of Justice”). Almost automatically associated with “justice” to many minds is the “criminal ‘justice’ system”—and criminals. Canada’s criminal justice system and the penalties for crimes committed in Canada have been recent topics of discussion preceding this year’s general election. The Conservative Party of Canada promised mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of “serious” crimes, including drug trafficking and violent crimes. This was criticized by the Liberal Party of Canada as well as the New Democratic Party of Canada. Both parties were concerned with an influx of stress on the already crowded system. If “justice” means “fair”, what does that mean for Canada? What does fair look like for the criminal, the victim, and society as a whole? Here lay the debate: what is better for the greater good, a “tough on crime” attitude with harsher sentences for criminals, or rehabilitation of the offender in question with hopes of rejoining society? Perhaps there are also other unexplored and new ideas for dealing with criminal behavior that need to be analyzed in order to objectively make an informed decision. In the coming months and years, the new Canadian government will revisit, revise, and perhaps make significant changes to the way we deal with criminals, and these modifications will

The fictional movie, … And Justice For All, by Norman Jewison shows many different aspects of social justice along with different social theories that are expressed throughout the movie. In addition to this key players also demonstrate these aspects not only in the court system, but outside the court system. Some key forms of justice are retributive, transformative, and restorative justice, along with real world situations, and different aspects of criminal justice theorists.