The federal justice minister said a new commission to review potential wrongful convictions would help racialized and indigenous people, who are currently overrepresented in the criminal system.
Bill C-40, named after David Milgaard and his mother Joyce, would take the case review process away from the Minister of Justice and put it in the hands of an independent commission. The government says the new commission will make the process easier, faster and fairer for people who may have been wrongfully convicted.
Milgaard, who served 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, supported the bill, which passed Tuesday.
Justice Minister Arif Virani said that while wrongful convictions are rare, they impose a grave injustice on defendants, their families and crime victims.
He said there have been 200 applications alleging wrongful conviction over the past 20 years, and 30 were ultimately quashed.
However, none of these cases involved women, and despite the high representation of women in the criminal justice system, only seven cases involved racialized people. .
The new law will give people who say they have been wrongfully convicted access funding, staff and tools to support their cases. Virani said this would help level the playing field.
The Government has said it will “work quickly” to set up the Judicial Miscarriage Review Commission so work can begin as soon as possible, and has begun identifying potential candidates to play roles within the new commission. .
