Hello, my name is Nicolas Le Grand Alary, I'm a lawyer with the Barreau du Québec's Secretariat of the Order and Legal Affairs. I'm joined by Nicholas St‑Jacques, who represents the Barreau du Québec.
Thank you for inviting us to testify before the committee on Bill C‑40.
First off, the Barreau du Québec wants to emphasize that it supports the bill's objective of replacing the current miscarriage of justice review process by establishing an independent body. However, based on its experience in the area of criminal justice administration, the Barreau du Québec has certain observations to make to improve it. Primarily, we want the new processes introduced by the bill to achieve their objective of correcting miscarriages of justice in an effective and efficient manner.
The Barreau du Québec therefore welcomes the creation of the independent miscarriage of justice review commission. We have always insisted on the creation of an independent body to analyze cases and gather information in order to increase the real and perceived independence of the post-conviction review.
I'd now like to move on to the particulars.
The bill provides that the commission must provide the applicant with an update concerning the status of their application on a regular basis. The commission may notify an applicant or their representative or provide them with information.
Applicants who apply for judicial review on the basis of miscarriage of justice are often in a vulnerable situation and may be incarcerated. Timely access to notices and information from the commission is important. In addition, applicants may require further context or an explanation of these documents. We are of the opinion that the commission's communications shouldn't be transmitted solely to the applicants, in order to avoid causing them additional harm. This approach would address an inconsistency between the English and French versions of the bill.
In addition, the bill states, “If the Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred or considers that it is in the interests of justice to do so, it may conduct an investigation in relation to an application.” The current wording says that the commission may do so, but it doesn't require it to do so. We're proposing an amendment to the section that the bill seeks to add to the criminal code specifying that the commission “must” conduct an investigation if it has reasonable grounds to believe that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred. This would allow the bill to meet its objective of facilitating and accelerating case reviews.
The bill also provides that when the commission provides notice that no investigation will be conducted, the notice must also specify the reasonable time within which the applicant and the attorney general may provide additional information. In the interest of procedural fairness, we recommend that the notices include the reasons why the commission decided not to investigate. Applicants should be aware of the deficiencies in their application for review and have the opportunity to rectify the situation.
I'll give the floor to Mr. St‑Jacques for further comments.