Montreal – As the federal government examines Canada’s criminal justice system, a new report by the Institute for Research on Public Policy proposes recommendations to guide the review.
The criminal justice system interacts in complex ways with many social systems, such as health, income support, child care and housing. The government’s review must consider this reality when weighing the options for reform in order to limit the potential for unintended and harmful outcomes for offenders, victims, their families and communities.
The report summarizes the main suggestions that emerged from a series of round tables organized and facilitated by the IRPP in April 2018, with the support of the Criminal Justice System Review Secretariat at the Department of Justice. The round tables sought advice and input from experts and stakeholders on the interactions between the criminal justice system and other social systems, and how these interactions should shape the upcoming review.
“The clearest message coming from the round tables is that the criminal justice system needs fundamental reform. The review should identify reforms that can be implemented immediately in order to ease the burden on the criminal justice system and provide better support to individuals being served by it, as well as acknowledge that this is a long-term process. It should also identify the goal of the reforms and situate this first stage in that longer-term process,” says IRPP President and CEO Graham Fox.
Round table participants suggested that the review should include the following:
This consultation exercise was one of several conducted by the Department of Justice over the past two years. The other consultations were structured differently and reached out to experts in different fields, specifically law enforcement and the legal community, and focused on different dimensions of this complex issue. This report should therefore be viewed as one of many elements contributing to the criminal justice system review.
Rethinking Criminal Justice in Canada can be downloaded from the Institute’s website.
The Institute for Research on Public Policy is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization based in Montreal. To receive updates from the IRPP, please subscribe to our e‑mail list.
Media contact: Shirley Cardenas, tel. 514-594-6877 scardenas@nullirpp.org
Cléa Desjardins
Communications Director
514-245-2139 • cdesjardins@irpp.org