Responding to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal government of Canada proposes improvements to the Legal Code and other relevant guidelines to strengthen success of criminal justice program

February 24, 2021 – Ottawa – Office of Justice Canada

The Governing administration of Canada is dedicated to retaining Canadians harmless and generating the prison justice process much more obtainable, effective and powerful.

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are currently being felt throughout the felony justice technique, and specially in the operation of criminal courts. The pandemic has the two designed and amplified challenges and limits in the legal justice system. Canada’s prison courts have been adapting and modernizing to tackle the issues they deal with, but lots of continue to be unable to operate at their pre-pandemic capability.

Nowadays, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Legal professional Typical of Canada, introduced an Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Identification of Criminals Act and to make associated amendments to other Acts (COVID-19 reaction and other actions). The legislation was knowledgeable by discussions with provincial and territorial counterparts, and would enable tackle issues confronted throughout the prison justice method prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has unveiled the have to have for changes to support modernize our criminal justice system now and for the long run.

The Invoice proposes a quantity of specific and long term alterations to the Prison Code that would give courts flexibility in how they keep prison proceedings and problem orders. These modifications would not compromise general public security, or participants’ legal rights and freedoms, and would assistance better access to justice both of those all through the pandemic and shifting forward. A lot more especially, the Bill would make adjustments in the next areas:

• remote appearances for accused folks: explain the law by supplying a mechanism to make it possible for accused people to show up remotely by videoconference or audioconference in most felony proceedings, with consent, at the discretion of the courtroom and with other suitable safeguards
• remote participation for jury variety proceedings: enable videoconference participation by jury candidates in the jury selection procedure less than particular situations, with the consent of the functions, at the discretion of the court and with other acceptable safeguards
• use of technological innovation for jury assortment: permit for the enhanced use of technologies to attract the names of jury candidates in the jury variety approach
• judicial situation management for unrepresented people today: permit judicial scenario administration regulations to be designed to assistance unrepresented accused folks, as opposed to only represented accused persons
• telewarrant process: revise the current telewarrant procedure to allow for peace officers to remotely use for a broader array of investigative orders
• fingerprinting course of action: let fingerprinting of accused persons under the Identification of Criminals Act to come about at a afterwards day, significantly wherever past tries at fingerprinting had been not possible owing to remarkable instances, these kinds of as those people posed by COVID-19

The Invoice would also make 8 insignificant technological alterations to the Felony Code and the Identification of Criminals Act that ended up identified through the implementation of previous Bill C-75 (delays in the prison justice procedure, 2019).

These proposed changes would make certain that each victims and accused receive honest and timely justice by making it possible for the technique to purpose in a safer, additional effective, productive and versatile manner. They would also help the prison justice method control the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the backlog of circumstances. These everlasting changes are meant to help lessen the hazards of further more delays incurred all through the pandemic and supply for improved performance the two in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the long term. These provisions would also guarantee that remote appearances continue being an choice that could be used only in suitable situations, and that in-particular person hearings would stay the norm.