Feds table Bill to help wrongfully convicted
Posted February 16, 2023 11:11 am.
Last Updated February 16, 2023 11:15 am.
The federal government has tabled a Bill aimed at making it easier for people to try and get justice if they feel they’ve been wrongfully convicted.
The Bill essentially will take decision-making on wrongful conviction cases out of the hands of the minister’s office and into an independent commission whose sole purpose is to examine these types of issues.
The aim is have an easier and quicker process that is more accessible.
The Trudeau government is proposing to create this commission, that is arms-length of government, to review applications over miscarriages of justice, investigate them and then have the power to order new trials or send the matter to the Court of Appeal.
NEW: The Federal Justice Minister tables a bill to create an independent commission to review applications for miscarriages of justice.
The Commission is meant to review & investigate claims of wrongful conviction, and possibly send cases back to the Justice system #cdnpoli— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) February 16, 2023
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party has been pushing for this for some time, and he calls it a positive step forward.
“It should hopefully benefit people that have been for a long time been disproportionately impacted … marginalized communities that have been more likely to be victims of miscarriages of justice — Indigenous community members, racialized, and other marginalized groups.”
The Bill comes after the government held consultations and received an independent report on the issue in 2021.
