Department of Justice Canada

Section 4.2 of the Department of Justice Act requires the Minister of Justice to prepare a Charter Statement for every government bill to help inform public and Parliamentary debate on government bills. One of the Minister of Justice’s most important responsibilities is to examine legislation for...

This report describes the findings from the 2022–2023 CAC/CYAC National Operational Survey. Given that many new CACs/CYACs have been established in the eight years since the last operational survey, the purpose of the survey was to provide an updated national picture of how CACs/CYACs work, their...

Child Advocacy Centres (CACs) and Child and Youth Advocacy Centres (CYACs) arose out of a need to reduce stress placed on child/youth victims during sexual abuse investigations. Previously, a lack of coordination between social services and the criminal justice system meant victims were...

Purpose of the toolkit This toolkit was developed with input from family law and family violence experts from across Canada. It is designed to: Respond to research calling for a tool designed specifically for family law legal advisers to use in identifying and responding to family violence;...

Child-to-parent violence and aggression (CPVA) is described as a form of family violence characterized by a pattern (as opposed to a single incident) of violent and aggressive behaviours in children and youth towards their parents or primary caregivers. These behaviours may have several...

This paper is a revision of the 2005 Justice Canada publication entitled Making Appropriate Parenting Arrangements in Family Violence Cases: Applying the Literature to Identify Promising Practices (Jaffe et al., 2005). The original paper was written to assist lawyers, judges and other...

This fact sheet presents information on criminal court cases where the most serious offence in the case is a drug-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...

The Government of Canada is reviewing the criminal law on HIV non-disclosure and sought feedback from the Canadian public through an online consultation. Participants were invited to share their views on possible criminal law reforms related to HIV non-disclosure. This consultation is one of the...

The Minister of Justice prepares a "Charter Statement" to help inform the public and Parliamentary debate on a government bill. One of the Minister of Justice's most important responsibilities is to examine legislation for consistency with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ["The...

During January and early February 2020, the Government of Canada launched consultations on medical assistance in dying (MAID). The online consultation, which was a short questionnaire, was open to all members of the public from the morning of Monday, January 13th through to midnight on Monday,...

Under the new Judicial Appointment Process announced by the Minister of Justice on October 20, 2016, any interested and qualified Canadian lawyer or judge could apply for such appointment by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaires were used by the Judicial Advisory Committee to review...

Under the new judicial application process introduced by the Minister of Justice on October 20, 2016, any interested and qualified Canadian lawyer or judge may apply for federal judicial appointment by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaires are then used by the Judicial Advisory...

This fact sheet is primarily based on self-reported data from the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization, on police-reported data from the 2018 Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, and on court data from the 2016/2017 Adult Criminal Court Survey.

This comprehensive review – the first of its kind since 1982 – was intended to guide the Government in its efforts to ensure that Canada’s criminal justice system is just, compassionate and fair; that it promotes a safe, peaceful and prosperous society; and that it accurately reflects the values...

The focus of this report is on outlining some of the key findings from the body of knowledge of neuroscience, and applying them to the issue of sexual assault and its impacts on victims. More specifically, we review and highlight some of the significant developments, which have emerged from the...

This fact sheet is based on two research publications from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) published in 2015 and 2018. In the 2015 Juristat, CCJS linked police-reported data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey to court data from the Adult Criminal Court Survey to identify...

The Government of Canada is acting to minimize the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadians. This webpage was created to provide the latest information on legislative and other measures adopted to protect Canadians in response to the pandemic.

We are working to ensure the Department of Justice work environment remains healthy, safe and secure for our employees during the COVID-19 situation. We are also committed to making sure everyone can easily access the latest confirmed information and guidance from health authorities and...

From 2016 to 2019, the Department of Justice Canada reached out to young Canadians for their views on justice issues. The youth selected for these youth engagement projects were not provided with specialized training or information, but their opinions and perspectives on justice issues can inform...

In Winter 2019, the Research and Statistics Division of the Department of Justice Canada engaged the authors to write a “think piece” focused on the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Call to Action (CTA) 34, and more specifically, 34.4. The objective was to “engage with experts in FASD [Fetal...