Overview of Recent Activities and Achievements - August 2003
Table of Contents

FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY

Aboriginal Justice

In August 2002, the Minister of Justice announced the renewal of the Aboriginal Justice Strategy (AJS) for 2002 through 2007. The strategy continues to provide funding, most of which is cost-shared with the provinces and territories, for community-based justice programs. These programs aim to reduce the rate of crime and incarceration among Aboriginal people; assist Aboriginal people to assume greater responsibility for the administration of justice within their communities; and foster changes within the mainstream justice system to better respond to the unique needs and cultures of Aboriginal communities.

The objectives of the AJS are:

• to assist Aboriginal people to assume greater responsibility for the administration of justice in their communities;
• to reflect and include Aboriginal values within the Canadian justice system; and
• to contribute, over the long term and along with other justice programs, to a decrease in the rate of victimization, crime and incarceration among Aboriginal people in communities operating AJS programs.

The key activities in fulfilling those objectives are community-based programs, policy development, training and development, self-government negotiations and self-government capacity building.

The Aboriginal Justice Learning Network (AJLN), as part of the Aboriginal Justice Strategy and a broader continuum of federal programs, is a response to the over-representation of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system (both as victims and offenders). It is widely recognized that a holistic approach to justice is needed. Key players in the field of justice (police, Crown counsel, defense counsel, judges, correctional and parole officials) from a range of jurisdictions, as well as Aboriginal peoples themselves, must be committed to a vision of reform based on holistic, restorative processes of justice. The AJLN works to bring those key justice stakeholders together to explore, develop and implement that vision.

During 2002 - 2003, the AJLN in partnership with the RCMP conducted Community Justice Forum facilitator training sessions throughout Nunavut and western provinces. This training partnership, directed at community organizations and other NGOs, will continue for the upcoming year.

Bilingualism and Bijuralism

The Department of Justice continues to promote bijuralism within the Canadian legal community. In addition to producing the second edition of a general information publication on bijuralism, the Department also contributed to the development of training programs, including one for members of the federal judiciary, as well as another given by the National Judicial Institute. The Institute will pursue this initiative and, in collaboration with the Department, will continue to develop its training sessions on bijuralism.

In order to develop knowledge about the relationship between judicial traditions, the Department continued its work over the course of the year in observing bijuralism from an economic point of view. This study is leading up to a related October 2003 conference in Toronto, as well as a publication on the topic to be released next year.

Criminal Conviction Review Process

As a result of Criminal Code amendments that came into effect in November 2002, provisions on the criminal conviction review process are now contained in sections 696.1-696.6 of the Code, as well as in applicable regulations.

This fall, the Minister of Justice will submit his first annual report to Parliament in relation to the conviction review process. A Web site that would provide further information on the review process is currently being developed, with completion anticipated for the fall 2003. A search is also underway to appoint a special advisor to oversee the conviction review process and advise the minister directly on the merits of the applications. This position is expected to be filled in the coming months.

Sentencing Reform and Restorative Justice

The Department of Justice's Sentencing Reform Team continues to monitor sentencing patterns and jurisprudence. In May 2003, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics published a statistical profile of conditional sentence use from 1997-2001, which showed a 16 percent increase in the number of conditional sentences and a corresponding decrease in admissions into custody. Some noteworthy activities of the Sentencing Reform Team over the past year include:

• supporting the work of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in its review of conditional sentences, which began in November 2002 and is expected to be completed this year;
• planning legislative and administrative reforms for the upcoming year following consultations and review of the use of intermittent sentences, as requested by the Ministers Responsible for Justice in September 2000; and
• publishing a report on sentencing for manslaughter in cooperation with Federal-Provincial-Territorial Sentencing Working Group colleagues and in response to a request by the Ministers Responsible for Justice in November 2001.

The Department also maintains its lead role with respect to the development of principles for restorative justice, both in Canada and internationally. In April 2002, the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice adopted a resolution on restorative justice principles that was co-sponsored by Canada and 21 member states. The Department used the UN principles to develop a Statement of Values, Principles and Program Guidelines for use in Canada and consulted on this document in an innovative and successful on-line dialogue in the winter of 2003.

The Department has also been working with federal partners and other levels of government to advance the policy and program development of restorative approaches to resolving criminal conduct. Restorative principles are being integrated into all policy work, and will continue to be an important component in program and policy development involving Aboriginal justice, youth criminal justice reform, crime prevention and victims' issues.

Structural Reform and the Justice System

In July 2003, the Courts Administration Service Act (Bill C-30) came into force, consolidating the administration of the Federal Court of Canada, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada into an arms-length agency under the management of a single Deputy Head, the Chief Administrator. The Act also re-establishes the two former divisions of the Federal Court of Canada (Trial and Appeal Division) as two separate courts, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. The former Associate Chief Justice of the Federal Court Trial Division is now the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. The Act confers on the Tax Court of Canada the status of a superior court, although the remedial powers and jurisdiction of the Tax Court remain unchanged.