Department of Justice Canada

This Research in Brief is based on publicly available data from a number of Justice Canada, Canadian government (federal and provincial/territorial), academic and community organization studies and publications released from 2009 to 2018, as well as information from various media sources....

This annotated bibliography provides a comprehensive inventory and accessible summary of research and scholarly discussions on RJ in cases of adult sexual violence. The annotated bibliography is organized into two main sections: 1) quantitative or qualitative assessments of RJ programs and their...

Indigenous people are overrepresented in Canada's criminal justice system as both victims and as people accused or convicted of crime. There are only a few national data sources that provide criminal justice statistics disaggregated by Indigenous identity. National data that does exist to...

The purpose of the national Indigenous Courtwork (ICW) Program evaluation is to examine the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the Program, in accordance with the Treasury Board 2016 Policy on Results. The ICW Program has been evaluated three times in the past ten years.

The Aboriginal Justice Strategy (AJS), now known as the Indigenous Justice Program, supports community-based justice programs that offer alternatives to mainstream justice processes in appropriate circumstances. Created to provide alternatives to the mainstream system, the Indigenous Justice...

How Does Canada's Court System Work details the different levels of courts that exist within Canada's justice system, the means of organization of the courts and the roles each levels of the judiciary play. It speaks to the alternative methods for dispute resolution that exist including...

Highlights activities and program developments from several victim serving organizations across the country. More in depth, the PCVI News covers the work done by the Policy Centre for Victims Issues who work on improving and understanding the experience of victims and survivors of crime in the...

This publication provides Canadians with a generalized view of how Canada's Justice System works. Specifically, it defines the differences between public and private law, how laws are kept up to date and the role that the Canadian Constitution in defining the fundamental rules and principles that...

This report offers an examination of data on violence within families, highlighting how it may be a relevant factor to consider in a family law dispute. In a family law context, violence, abuse and neglect within families can have wide-ranging, long-term effects. Family and criminal courts may...

Canadians indicated they are not very familiar with restorative justice (RJ), but after receiving an explanation, the majority of Canadians support the use of RJ and see the process as an effective way to repair harms caused by crime.

What we found: Young people believed that an accused should remain in the community on bail for all types of offences (with some conditions) while awaiting trial instead of being remanded to jail. Youth thought that accused persons should have greater support to help them meet reasonable bail...

What we found: Young people noted that the most important factors judges should consider in fair and equitable sentencing are personal circumstances and history of the accused person, and the nature of the crime, including the context, severity and motive for the crime. Ultimately, young people...

Youth want a criminal justice system (CJS) that shows empathy and takes into consideration the circumstances of individuals before and during sentencing. Youth feel that the CJS should use more alternatives to incarceration that are community-based, restorative and place a focus on...

Over half of Canadians indicated that administration of justice offences (AOJOs) would be better dealt with outside of the courts. Canadians also thought an accused person's circumstance should be taken into account in tailoring responses to AOJOs/ What we also found: Three quarters (75%) of...

Canadians are generally supportive of community-based sentencing; many feel that these sentences could have a number of positive impacts from reducing crime and increasing safety to greater efficiency in the criminal justice system. What we also found: After reviewing statistics on...

Young people believed it is very important to measure the performance of the criminal justice system (CJS). They indicated that they wanted to know if the CJS effectively deters crime and keeps Canadians safe, treats people fairly and equitably, and holds offenders accountable for their actions.

Young people are highly aware of the relationship between mental health, addiction, and crime. Youth agree that the Criminal Justice System (CJS) must take a more active role to address mental health issues through programming and services both within and connected to the CJS.

Young people identified overrepresentation of the Indigenous population in Canada’s Criminal Justice System (CJS) as unfair, and largely a result of societal discrimination as well as systemic discrimination in the justice system. They also felt that it was symptomatic of the poverty and...

Reader's Note: This publication presents results of an online public opinion survey completed by a sample of Canadians who received an invitation through email, Facebook and Twitter (called "open link" sample; see method for more details). This survey mirrored a survey conducted with a...

Canadians indicated that they are not very familiar with restorative justice (RJ), but after receiving an explanation, the majority of Canadians support the use of RJ and see the process as an effective way to repair the harms caused by crime. What we also found: Most Canadians (87%) indicated...