Thank you, Mr. Chair, and honourable members.
We're very pleased to appear before you today on your review of sections 25.1 to 25.4 of the Criminal Code.
The Canadian Bar Association was very active in commenting on the original Bill C-24 before this committee, so we are very happy to get another opportunity to share our views with you.
The Canadian Bar Association is a national association, representing 36,000 lawyers across Canada. Our statements today are specifically on behalf of the criminal justice section of the Canadian Bar Association. I should point out that the members of that section include both defence and crown lawyers, which makes it unique among criminal law groups.
The mandate of the Canadian Bar Association is to improve the law and the administration of justice, and it is in that optic that we make our comments before you today.
I'd like to ask Mr. DelBigio, who is chair of the criminal justice section, to speak to the substantive parts of our letter, which you have before you.