374 search results for
Interacting with criminal justice system
Recommendation 171:
Start all Indigenous women prisoners at a minimum-security level and remove the requirement to automatically incarcerate Indigenous women in a maximum security facility for the first two years of a murder sentence.
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Recommendation 5:
The Canadian legal system also requires specialised training of professionals working with children, including mental health professionals, lawyers, and judges (Bala & Birnbaum, 2019; Collins, 2019; Paetsch et al., 2018). This is particularly important for legal professionals working on cases involving parental alienation and/or family violence (Elrod, 2016; Martinson & Jackson, 2016). These types of cases require judges and mental health professionals who are experienced in discovering and addressing problems in the family, as there can be multiple reasons for a child refusing contact with a parent or guardian, including family violence that can continue to put the child at risk if left unaddressed in custody and access decisions (Elrod, 2016; Martinson & Tempesta, 2018).
Specific recommendations for children’s legal counsel include: ensuring democratic communication, in which lawyers and child both share information about themselves to build trust in preparation for proceedings; having lawyers inform children about the court process and what it means to have a lawyer represent them; having lawyers pose questions to children to better recognize how children understand the court process; and getting lawyers to emphasize flexibility in the child’s options to share their views, not share them at all or change their instructions to the lawyer (Bala & Birnbaum, 2019; Koshan, 2020; Horsfall, 2013; Paetsch et al., 2018). Those working at family courts should receive specialised training on family violence and high-risk cases, which can have a substantial impact on children’s rights (Koshan, 2020; Martinson & Raven, 2020a). From a scholastic perspective, much more research is needed to understand which of the many strategies implemented across Canada (and the world) might be most helpful to children’s legal participation (Birnbaum & Saini, 2012). This requires ongoing cooperation and collaboration between the legal and academic communities, to guarantee specialised and sensitised approaches to this topic.
Specific recommendations for children’s legal counsel include: ensuring democratic communication, in which lawyers and child both share information about themselves to build trust in preparation for proceedings; having lawyers inform children about the court process and what it means to have a lawyer represent them; having lawyers pose questions to children to better recognize how children understand the court process; and getting lawyers to emphasize flexibility in the child’s options to share their views, not share them at all or change their instructions to the lawyer (Bala & Birnbaum, 2019; Koshan, 2020; Horsfall, 2013; Paetsch et al., 2018). Those working at family courts should receive specialised training on family violence and high-risk cases, which can have a substantial impact on children’s rights (Koshan, 2020; Martinson & Raven, 2020a). From a scholastic perspective, much more research is needed to understand which of the many strategies implemented across Canada (and the world) might be most helpful to children’s legal participation (Birnbaum & Saini, 2012). This requires ongoing cooperation and collaboration between the legal and academic communities, to guarantee specialised and sensitised approaches to this topic.
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- Access to justice ,
- Accessibility ,
- Accessible services and technology ,
- Ageism ,
- Courts ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Human rights system ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- International human rights ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services
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Recommendation 68:
Significantly increase the number of national-level use of force reviews. At the very least, CSC national should review all uses of force involving prisoners with mental health disabilities, all uses of force at treatment centres, all uses of ERTs and all cases involving allegations of misconduct (including but not limited to excessive force) or failure to follow policy.
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Recommendation 15:
Select officers who excel at conflict resolution and empathy to work as Mental Health Liaison Officers and on therapeutic units, and involve the Provincial Health Services Authority in their training.
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Recommendation 22:
Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms asserts that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” The principles of fundamental justice are such that the substance of a decision is more likely to be fair if the procedure by which the decision was made has been just. The procedures based on the principle of administrative fairness safeguard individuals in their interactions with the state. These principles stipulate that whenever a person’s “rights, privileges or interests” are at stake, there is a duty to act in a procedurally fair manner.
Enhancing the Protective Environment for Children of Parents in Conflict with the Law or Incarcerated: A Framework for Action
Group/author:
Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, University of the Fraser Valley – School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, University of the Fraser Valley – School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
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2018
2018
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Recommendation 4:
Restrict the use of force in response to selfharm to circumstances where there is an imminent risk of grievous bodily harm.
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Recommendation 50:
Restrict the use of force in response to self-harm to circumstances where there is an imminent risk of grievous bodily harm.
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Recommendation 39:
Require staff to make all reasonable efforts to ensure this assessment is not mediated by physical barriers such as bars, security glass, door hatches or screens. If officer presence is required for safety reasons, the officer(s) must not have been involved in the use of force.
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Recommendation 3:
Require officers to weigh the risk of not intervening with force against the risk of harm (including psychological harm) resulting from a use of force and to ensure interventions are proportionate in light of this assessment.
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Recommendation 53:
Require advanced training in working with people with mental health disabilities for all staff working on mental health units, in treatment centres, in segregation/SIUs, and as members of Emergency Response Teams as a prerequisite for performing these roles. Require regular refresher courses.
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