Underfunding in the Canadian Criminal Justice System

The Canadian criminal justice system consists of multiple roles in order to sustain a well-working government system. The system is put in place in order to keep safety, equality, peace and fairness. There are four main functions of the criminal justice system that are interrelated segments that help protect a society from crime. The criminal justice system consists of policing, courts, corrections and parole. The component of the Canadian Criminal Justice System that will be discussed is about the process and function of the courts.

How to appropriately and fairly carry out criminal justice matters is something that every country struggles with. A major reason for this struggle is the fallibility of the justice system. It is acceptable to concede that the possibility of human error in every case and investigation may lead to a wrongful conviction. In the case of David Milgaard, however, Canada's Criminal Justice System not only erred, but failed grievously, resulting in millions of dollars wasted, in a loss of public confidence in the system, and most tragically, in the robbery of two decades of one man's life. Factors including, but not limited to, the social context at the time of the crime, the social perception of deviance, the influence of the media, and the

In today’s media, countries such as the United States are portrayed as having corrupt legal systems which are responsible for mass incarceration. However, many do not know this is also a problem in Canada. New bills have recently been put in place to incarcerate more people for non-violent crimes. The poor are being kept off the streets by being sent to prison. Different races make up a small population in Canada, but a large population in its prison system.

If we can understand what factors play a role in whether a person is more or less likely to face the criminal justice system, better support can be provided to those people. Groups of people who are more likely to face involvement in the criminal justice system could be benefitted by programs that are more focused towards the needs of those people. For instance, the statistics provided by the Statistics Canada website show that there are high rates of Aboriginal people who come into contact in one way or another with the criminal justice system, "Two of the biggest challenges facing the criminal justice system are the high rates of crime and victimization in many Aboriginal communities and the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people at all stages of the justice process". With these statistics available the criminal justice system can make steps to ensure programs are available that cater to the needs of those in Aboriginal

Canada today faces a major challenge when it comes to access to justice. The civil, criminal and family justice system has become very complicated, slow and extremely expensive for majority of Canadians. These issues are particularly glaring to low income earners, people with disabilities and other minorities. Canadian justice system have become incapable of providing solutions that can addressing problems brought to it. With the creation of the Canadian charter of right and freedom, access to justice became more of an equality issue. It moved from simply being the capacity to litigate, to the quality of outcome or outcome focused. While there have been efforts to reform the system, our courts continues to lack institutional structures that can address change and create a more equitable judicial system both in capacity and outcome.

As the above pie chart (Composition of government expenditure on criminal justice 2006-2007) shows us the police services are at the head position of the overall expenditure of the three arms of the criminal justice system. The government is aware of the vast need for more funds into the policing sector, for the fact this arm is the division that provides the law and order and is out there addressing the issues that are affecting society and apprehending the criminals in, to ensure the criminal justice system continues to function in a fair and equally sufficing way.

A factor that the public don’t take into consideration when judging the justice system is budget and staffing levels. The different arms, although part of the criminal justice system, work independently to serve the community but can be affected by budgeting, staffing levels and space restrictions, in turn affecting public perception. In 2007-2008 approximately 70% (majority of this being salaries) of the justice system expenditure was spent on the police force showing that the majority of the budget is being spent on the investigative arm (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009). The corrective services sector made up 24% and the criminal courts administration took up a tiny 6% of the budget. There has been a dramatic increase in prisoners which shows that police are apprehending criminals and Judges are providing suitable sentences but prisons are chronically overcrowded (Martin, 2010). The Government listened and announced that new prisons will be constructed, but this would take

It is believed that while all human kind may have had common beginnings in the millennia past, the course of human history prevents all races from reverting back to that common kind. It is further believed that the racism that subsists in today’s society does not exist in the same manner within Canada. While Canada is an egalitarian society, a close examination would suggest that the blunt historical and social truths of racism that are often smugly denied exist very much in Canadian society and have seeped into the Canadian criminal justice system. The racialization of crime, discriminatory policing, minority overrepresentation in prison populations and a blatant denial of justice are aspects of the system that taint much of its past and create a worried present. This paper argues against the prevalent Canadian defence of egalitarianism by establishing the presence of systemic discrimination within the Canadian criminal justice system.

2) There has been an evolution of police work in Canada. A number of events have shaped Canadian policing, and in particular have shaped three different kinds. These are municipal, provincial, and federal police services. All these services had to start from somewhere. “In many respects, the emergence of Canadian policing during the nineteenth century closely mirrored the development of punishment and corrections” (Griffiths 2004).

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.

In a 2007 speech by Beverly McLachlin, the Supreme Court of Canada Chief of Justice, she stated that “access to justice promotes social stability” and also that “if people can’t get justice, they will have less respect for the law” (Eberts, 2013). By her words alone, the necessity and importance of legal aid is demonstrated. Socioeconomic status can put individuals at an unfair disadvantage in many aspects of life, especially in regards to legal proceedings. “Legal aid [was] introduced to Canada in the 1970’s” as a way of ensuring fair trial, and decreasing the frequency of common problems that result from misunderstanding of the law, unrepresented litigants and the power of money (Abell, 2010). However, like any tool or procedure used to improve society, there are always imperfections. Legal aid resources have become difficult to obtain financially and situationally, and the quality of this resource is often put into question. Without it, people and the justice system face consequences that need to be resolved in order to achieve the social stability that McLachlin speaks of.

The relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian government has been a troubled one since European first contact that continues even at the early stages of the 21st century. Although this relationship can be observed from a number of different angles, the intent of this paper is to focus specifically on the failures of the criminal justice system while correlating it with the social and economic inequalities that are the root cause of the problem. It will therefore be argued that the criminal justice system has not adapted to adequately address the concerns of the Canadian Aboriginal people. This paper will begin with policing, which is the first stage in the justice system, where an examination of issues will be presented such

More police officers need to be hired with the growing population. This is a must with the increase of crime. To address the increase criminal activity there needs to be more police officers in those areas. Police officers retire and others leave the job. These vacant positions must be filed and the police ratio to citizens need to mach. “Currently on average the ratio of police to population in the US comes to about 2.3 officers per thousand

I once believed the police and fire departments, court, correction, and social services to be independent entities that provided communities with individual services that sometimes complimented one another by the basic interchanging of information and services. Through this module, I have learned these entities are a very complex and although independent rely on inter-connectivity and communication comprise the criminal justice system. These entities share a common goal to uphold the law and maintain justice in our society (Silver, S. 2011. CJ in the USA an introduction to Criminal Justice. (1st ed., p. 1). The criminal justice system is divided into four major pillars. Within the pillars many divers jobs and skill sets come together to achieve this goal (Johnson, K. (2010). Jobs in criminal justice. Oceanside: Channel Custom Publishing, Oceanside,CA. Available from http://ct2learn.com/els/index.php/member-home/cj/imods/jobs-cj/imod/).

It is through the Criminal Justice System’s close collaborations with like-minded agencies such as the Police, Prison and Courts Services, that the public’s concerns and worries are resolved, in order to bring about justice in our communities (Cavadino and Dignan, 2007 as cited in Fox, 2014). With that in mind and out of the way, this essay will aim to explore some of the strengths and weaknesses, which are prominent within the Criminal Justice System. To do this successfully, the Police and the Courts Service will be the key agencies that will be explored in relation to the key Models that shape the whole Criminal Justice System. These Models were founded by Herbert L. Packer (1968) and Michael King (1981).