Department of Justice Canada

As part of the Government of Canada’s Victims of Crime Initiative, the Policy Centre for Victim Issues was created in 2000. In that same year, I completed a report for the Department of Justice entitled “The Role of the Victim in the Criminal Process: A Literature Review – 1989 to 1999.” I was...

Black people are overrepresented in Canada's criminal justice system as both victims and people accused or convicted of crime. This fact sheet presents a statistical overview of the key areas of overrepresentation of Black people at different stages of the criminal justice system. National...

This Research in Brief describes navigator programs in Canada, a people-focused approach to enhancing access to justice by providing assistance to those with serious legal problems. The Department of Justice Canada uses a definition of access to justice that is broad and recognizes the importance...

This fact sheet is based on data from the 2021 Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS) undertaken by Statistics Canada and commissioned by Justice Canada. The CLPS is a legal needs or legal problems survey; these surveys are done in countries around the world to measure the incidence of legal...

The Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) for Justice Canada describes the approach the Department will take to meet the requirements of the Directive on Open Government. This is the OGIP that was written by Justice Canada in 2015. Since this was written, we have changed some of our...

Restorative Justice (RJ) is based on an understanding that crime causes harm to people and relationships, and it affects communities. RJ is an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate...

This study examines the way courts have applied hate as an aggravating factor at sentencing (subparagraph 718.2(a)(i) of the Criminal Code). The main purpose of this research was to identify the most common characteristics of offenders and victims of hate crimes, to identify the most frequent...

The objective of this project is to collect and collate research, describe existing methods to include the children’s voices in family law in Canada (and internationally where relevant), to identify themes, and to develop a comprehensive and accessible literature review. This review provides...

This fact sheet presents information on criminal court cases where the most serious offence in the case is a child-related sexual offence subject to a mandatory minimum penalty (MMP). Data were obtained through a request to the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS)...

This fact sheet presents information on criminal court cases where the most serious offence in the case is a firearm-related offence subject to a mandatory minimum penalty (MMP). Data were obtained through a request to the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) and...

Canada’s bail system promotes public safety, maintains confidence in the administration of justice, and ensures respect for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is an important component of the criminal justice system.