Evidence of meeting #75 for Justice and Human Rights in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was accused.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
The trigger is just the standard review. It's based on that timeline.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Say someone is on a two-year review cycle and they receive a psychological evaluation that says maybe they should take a look at this, is there no way to speed that review up? Do you have to wait until your assessment time?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
There is the possibility of asking for a review before the next scheduled review. There is provision in the code that currently exists and that will apply as well.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
If that were to occur, based on this legislation the victim is still going to be informed.
Is that correct?
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
How much lead time would the victim have? Roughly how long would they have to be aware that the review is going to take place, if it was non-statutory?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you. As I mentioned earlier, the review boards themselves govern their technical procedures about communicating with the parties and the victims, and—
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Would it be safe to say that they would be informed far enough ahead that they could take some sort of action to make a victim impact statement? They would have to have that much time for sure, would they not?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Yes.
I think there's also provision in the code for the review board to adjourn to ensure the victim has the ability to prepare a victim impact statement.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Say the review board had evidence that they were going to forward to the court for revocation, at what point in the review does the victim impact statement take place? Is it one of the first things they look at, or is it one of the last things they look at?
I'm wondering at what point the victim impact statement takes place. Or does the review board set their own schedule based on the—
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Well, they hold a hearing and all the evidence is considered at the hearing. It's very possible that some of the evidence is in writing and some is orally presented, so it's during the hearing.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
But if the victim impact statement comes at the front end of that hearing, they may have to make their statement prior to hearing all the new evidence or the new psychological reports or whatever is in there.
Could the victim impact statement come at the end of the process, or is that up to the review board to decide where that takes place?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
The process at the review board, contrary to a traditional court, is very informal. In a court, often the prosecution will make its case first, and after the prosecution presents evidence then it goes to the defence. That's not at all how it happens before the review boards. It's very informal in nature, and it probably varies across the jurisdictions and on a case-by-case basis. It's very difficult to answer that question with any more precision.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
So we're not sure where that could occur.
What we do know is that there is the opportunity for the victim to actually make a victim impact statement at some point in that process. Hopefully they would treat the victim's rights reasonably at the review board level.
Would that be safe to say?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Yes, and there's provision in the code for that.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mike Wallace
Thank you.
Monsieur Goguen, you had your hand up.
There's a minute left in the timeframe, would you like to ask your question?
Conservative
Robert Goguen Conservative Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Yes, just very quickly.
I would like to go back to Mr. Jacob’s questions. He asked about the procedure. My understanding is that the key aspect of the bill is to ensure public safety first and foremost. If I understand correctly, the person who wants to make a request to have the designation of high-risk NCR accused removed must go through two levels to have it removed. First, the person must convince the review board to make the recommendation and, second, it is up to a judge from the superior court to decide whether to accept or deny the request. So there are two levels to go through.
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
There are two hearings. The first one is before the review board. I would like to clarify that the first hearing is not a burden on the accused. As I explained just a moment ago, the proceedings before review boards are very informal and neither party has to carry the burden. The board carries more of the burden because it has to gather all the information and relevant evidence to make its decisions. Then it can actually make a recommendation to the court to hold another hearing.
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Yes.
So there are two hearings.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mike Wallace
Thank you very much.
Thank you, witnesses from the justice department, for being here. You have provided excellent answers to the questions.
I want to let the committee know that, based on what has been approved, we will be meeting for a three-hour session.
As you know, we are going through lots of votes in the House of Commons. All the meetings are here in Centre Block. My goal as chair is to make sure we hear the evidence provided by the witnesses. We will vote if we have to, then come back and hear witnesses to make sure we get the witnesses' testimony on the record. Some are coming a long way. We may not get to everyone's questions but I want to make sure we hear the witnesses.
That will start on Wednesday. We look forward to it.
With that, the meeting is adjourned.