National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, may I?

National Defence committee  I would just like to point out that members of the military are not allowed to strike or associate to defend their rights. When scrutinizing their rights, it's important to take all aspects into account, beyond party politics. I did a comparison between disciplinary prison law a

National Defence committee  It's hard for the Quebec bar to answer that, since it's not something we've looked into. I could answer in my capacity as a lawyer, but since the bar hasn't examined the issue, I can't really comment. Generally speaking, however, as a lawyer, I can tell you that the Beaudry deci

National Defence committee  As a general rule, the Quebec bar is in favour of any amendment that would bring the civilian and military justice systems into alignment. If those mechanisms are available in the civilian system, they should also be available in the military system, with any necessary adjustment

National Defence committee  If the victim's liaison officer belongs to a provincial bar association, they could. The department and the Canadian Forces could set out a regulatory requirement that victim liaison officers be members of a provincial bar association. They could be military lawyers on secondment

National Defence committee  We did a bit of work on the issue, but I will give you my personal opinion, based on my experience as a lawyer. With respect to indigenous rights, the Supreme Court of Canada held, in Gladue and Ipeelee, that the justice system had to take into account the fact that an offender

National Defence committee  That is the understanding of the Quebec bar. In cases where members of the military are facing serious penal consequences, removing such elements as the possibility of a criminal record and detention does not change the fact that, if the matter is brought before a judge, problems

National Defence committee  Just for the record, on Ms. Fynes' point, I've retrieved some stats on section 98 at the summary trial, but it doesn't say whether it's paragraph 98(a), 98(b), or 98(c). We could dig that out. I'm sure my colleagues at the Department of National Defence could find out. With rega

National Defence committee  First of all, we welcome the fact that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is being integrated into the act. The charter grants a right to information, protection, participation and restitution. However, the Barreau du Québec questions the scope of a victim's right to inf

Justice committee  Based on his experience and instinct, a lawyer may not want a certain juror, without however being able to identify the problem or being able to explain exactly why to the judge. Sometimes, it is something in the person's body language, or the way in which he or she answers or be

Justice committee  The United States is very advanced when it comes to the study of potential jurors. In Canada, we are not there yet. The image of the law that is presented by popular culture often comes from the United States. But there are nuances when it comes to the law in Canada. You may thi

Justice committee  Before we get to that point, there is a jury selection process. According to our suggestion, if after the sixth or seventh jury member is chosen, people realize that they are going to have a jury that will not be representative of the community or another component of the file, o

Justice committee  Mr. Le Grand Alary may want to add some comments on this, but personally I would say that if the basic facts and principles regarding aggravating and extenuating factors are the same, the sentences will remain the same. Regarding sentences, obviously the superior court judge has

Justice committee  I'm going to go back to what I was saying earlier. Suppose a prosecutor is in a situation where charges were laid by indictment and the six-month time limit has elapsed. There could also be cases where the deadline has not expired, but where you are dealing with an offence for wh

Justice committee  Quite so. The Parliament of Canada’s role is to define criminal law, but it cannot foresee every scenario that might arise as the law is being applied. So it is up to those working in the justice system, who come under provincial responsibility, to try to apply it as fairly as p