Yes. I'm sorry.
The criminal justice system must treat victims of offences and witnesses to offences with courtesy, compassion and respect. Victims and witnesses should not suffer harm as a result of their involvement in the criminal justice system.
The criminal law must describe in clear and accessible language the actions that society has determined are criminal and penalties for those offences.
We have several traditional suggestions to make. First of all, we must have confidence in judges and provide legislation that will facilitate proper trial management. This should be done within the framework of consultations that would involve, most importantly, lawyers for the defence and the Crown workinging our judicial system.
We must show restraint when dealing with rules of disclosure of evidence. The disclosure of evidence is a fundamental right which is tied to the right to make full answer and defence. To unduly limit the rules of disclosure may result in miscarriages of justice. We can confidently state that cases reported in various jurisdictions of miscarriages of justice and rules of disclosure are often connected. Failure to disclose evidence is often the source of a miscarriage of justice.
We must take into account the work of various committees dealing particularly with the rules of disclosure of evidence, of judicial discretion and of the determination of evidence. In particular, there will be Mr. Justice Major's report, which will be published following the Air India Commission of Inquiry. I believe that important lessons will be drawn from this report, and with all due respect, I suggest that you use that as a basis for your work. It would be best to wait for the conclusions of such commissions on these issues.
The simplification of the rules in terms of criminal justice does not and should not signify a limitation of judicial discretion. In this regard—I was talking earlier about trial management—we must consider that if there is a problem in terms of disclosure and particularly in the case of major criminal organization investigations, we are often dealing with investigations that last for years. In the course of their investigations, police often collect hundreds of thousands of documents. And this must be properly managed by the police forces who are investigating, by the prosecutors who must manage this documentation and information in order to use it adequately before the courts and present it intelligibly and intelligently, and who must ensure they respect their obligations and their duty to disclose so that the accused may know what evidence there is against them, in order to properly prepare their defence as the case may be.
In conclusion, I will say that the fight against crime is not simply a matter of stiffer sentences. We must also look for solutions that promote prevention, and not only react to crimes that have already been committed. Thank you.