The Canadian Justice System Is The Mechanism That Bears On The Principle Of The Rule Of Law

Canadian Criminals are a major part of Canadian society. In our country if you were not the direct victim of a crime you tend to forget the members of society that take pleasure in causing societies grief. As in the case of James Hutchinson and Richard Ambrose, whose crimes were committed in December of 1974.1 They were convicted of killing two Moncton City Police officers. Today, years after the murders were committed Ambrose and Hutchinson are still the center of a major controversy that has plagued our parole system. In order to fully understand the controversy that Ambrose and Hutchinson posses you must look at the

This paper will be focusing on the controversial issue of mandatory minimum sentences in Canada. There has been much debate over this topic, as it has quickly become implemented for the sentencing of drug offenders, drug-related crimes and banned firearm offences. I will argue that every case that comes through the criminal justice system is different and deserves a fair trial with a sentence that is not already determined for them. There have been many cases where the judge has no discretion in the sentence due to the mandatory minimum sentences pre-determined for the case, no matter what the aggravating or mitigating factors were. I will argue that the mandatory minimum sentences in Canada should be reduced or eliminated as

The Canadian criminal justice system is often represented by the balanced scales of justice. These scales symbolize the need for the law to be viewed objectively in order to ensure a fair determination of innocence (Griffiths, 2011). Ideally, the criminal justice system should incorporate the values of the scales of justice to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate the law. However, despite justice being supposedly impartial, there is an overwhelming representation of Aboriginal people in all stages of the criminal justice process, from the charging of the individuals in court to their sentence in prison (Jordan, 2014). This is a clear indication that the criminal justice system is not adequately representing the needs of

As society becomes more modern, there is “an increased insistence on the possession of professional legal credentials by those adjudicating disputes about the law”5. This shift of society towards more qualified legal personnel’s is in response to the growing complexity of the Canadian legal system. The average person does not know enough about the workings of the legal process to accurately represent themselves in legal conflict situations. The addition of qualified lawyers in court proceedings allows both parties of a conflict an equal platform in which to argue their case. If Nils Christie’s idea of a society in which lawyers become obsolete, the party in a conflict who has more knowledge of the legal system would win the dispute, regardless of their guilt or

The Criminal Justice System has many components that make it up. There are many differences and similarities between Canada and America like the culture, religion, and governments. Some of the main differences and similarities being the Criminal Justice System. The Criminal Justice System is the law that is related to arresting, sentencing and punishing people if found guilty with jail time, probation, or community service. In this research paper, I will be stating some of the main differences and similarities between the Canadian and American Judicial System.

Since the British North America Act was adopted in 1867, Canada has been developing and writing up their own laws independently from other countries. Many people believe that, though our Canadian laws have come far from the days of the BNA act, they are still not up to par with the harshness of American laws. The advantage that Canadians have over Americans is that in Canada, there is only one criminal code for all Canadians whereas in the United States, every State has their own criminal codes which, unfortunately for the Americans, are not identical. Also, the United States and Canada each have a law that is fraught with the possibility that an injustice will be brought upon those whom these laws apply. In the United States, it is the

Wrongful conviction is an issue that has plagued the Canadian Justice System since it came to be. It is an issue that is hard to sort out between horrific crimes and society’s desire to find truth and justice. Incidences of wrongful conviction hit close to home right here in Saskatchewan as well as across the entire nation. Experts claim “each miscarriage of justice, however, deals a blow to society’s confidence in the legal justice system” (Schmalleger, Volk, 2014, 131). Professionals in the criminal justice field such as police, forensic analyst, and prosecutors must all be held accountable for their implications in wrongful convictions. There are several reasons for wrongful convictions such as racial bias, false confessions, jailhouse

In Canada when a young person gets in trouble with the law, the punishment given will be in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The Youth Criminal Justice Act was created in 2003. The main objective of this legislation is to hold youth accountable for their actions through the promotion of “rehabilitation” and “reintegration” (Youth Criminal Justice Act, 2002, S.3a(ii)). Within the Canadian court system, there is a youth court for individuals who get in trouble with the law while they are still under the age of 18 years. In Calgary, Alberta the youth courtrooms are located in the Calgary Courts Center building, which is located at 601 5th Street SW. I attended youth court on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 and Monday, October 31th. This paper will shed light on the atmosphere of the youth courtroom, analyze how the criminal justice professionals are acting within the courtroom, and discuss certain cases that went through the youth courts.

During her study of the Scottish criminal justice system, McBarnet was able to construct an idea of a “two-tier” justice system. In her work, McBarnet reported on the major disparity of proceedings and procedures between the higher and lower courts. Upon my observation of proceedings in the lower and higher courts, I believe this ‘gap’ is prominent in the NSW criminal adversarial system.

The Canadian Criminal Justice System is, for the most part, reflective of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and various Supreme Court of Canada case-law. Everyone who finds themselves on the opposing end of the Criminal Justice System is entitled to certain protections every step of the way, beginning even before the arrest; laws protect us from unreasonable investigative techniques, guarantee certain rights at point of arrest, and provide us with the right to counsel. The bail court departs from the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard in that the crown only needs to prove on a balance of probabilities (Kellough, 1996, p. 175) in order to take away a person’s freedom. It is for this reason I decided to limit the scope of my

* The author will determine courtroom groups, how the groups interact daily, and recommend changes to the groups. The author will also describe prosecutor roles and the cases he pursues. Finally, the author will elaborate on the funnel of criminal justice with the backlog among the courtroom group, the court system, give an example, and explain how to eliminate backlog cases.

The plea bargaining process is no stranger to the justice system. The issue of plea bargaining has been subject to never-ending debate as to whether or not this system is still viable. Some believe that we should abolish this system of plea bargaining. Plea bargaining is criticized for failing to take into account the victims’ desires. Rampant is the belief that people are not being properly punished for their crime and, as such, leads to a diminished respect for the criminal justice process. Others believe that the plea bargaining system is necessary in order to prevent overwhelming case loads for the justice system and it also helps save court time and money by resolving cases early on in the criminal process. It can also help secure a conviction if it is unclear if there is enough evidence for the accused to be found guilty of his or her crime. Despite some of its limitations raised by critics, we should not go so far as to demand the abolishment of plea negotiations. The plea bargaining system is a necessary evil. While the system of plea bargaining is indispensable, it is important to note that the plea bargaining process in Canada is far from perfect. Thus, suggestions will be recommended for a reform of the process of plea bargaining. Directions for future research will be discussed as well.

The Canadian Justice System is built on the principal of the presumption of innocence where emphasis is placed on on ensuring that the innocent go free rather than the guilty being convicted (Huff, 2013). However, miscarriages of justice occur when an individual is wrongfully conviction, and such an occurrence tarnishes the system’s reputation greatly (Campbell & Denov, 2005). According to the edited case files presented by Moldaver (2009), Romeo Phillion was wrongly convicted of the murder of an Ottawa firefighter, Leopold Roy in 1972. Roy had been stabbed on August 9th of 1967, four and a half years prior to when Phillion had been charged with the crime in 1972 after confessing to the murder while in police custody. Despite recanting the confession immediately, the relatively short trial led to a guilty verdict but after investigations decades later, it determined that the prosecutor 's misconduct had led to the miscarriage of justice (Anderson, 2008). After a series of appeals and references, the case was reopened in 2009 which led to the conviction being overturned, and a new trial ordered whereby the Crown had withdrawn the murder charge because of the lack of reasonable prospect of conviction (Harland-Logan, 2014). Nevertheless, Phillion’s proven innocence after his 31 years of incarceration made him the longest-serving wrongfully convicted prisoner in Canadian history (Anderson, 2008). With this considered, the wrongful conviction of Romeo Phillion had been due to

Due process is fair treatment within the judicial system, which every Canadian is entitled to. Although the maintenance of rights and due process is the state’s job, and continues with the court system, the conservation and upholding of charter rights have to start

The criminal trial process is an interesting process that takes place in Courtrooms all across the United States and throughout the globe. This study intends to set out the various steps in the criminal trial process in the American justice system. A trial is described as a "legal forum for resolving individual disputes, and in the case of a criminal charge, it is a means for establishing whether an accused person is legally guilty of an offense. The trial process varies with respect to whether the matter at issue is civil in nature or criminal. In either case, a jury acts as a fact-finding body for the court in assessing information and evidence that is presented by the respective parties in a case. A judge presides over the court and addresses all the legal issues that arise during the trial. A judge also instructs the jury how to apply the facts to the laws that will govern in a given case." (3rd Judicial District, 2012)