83 search results for
Courts
Recommendation 69:
No reduction of welfare for families in cases of child apprehension, so that income support and housing is maintained while mothers are in the process of getting their children back.
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Recommendation 9:
MCFD should review the legislation to assess how the legislation could support a more accountable and robust legal framework for prevention-based supports including by:
- Adding a comprehensive list of functions for MCFD at the beginning of the legislation which includes:
- working with community and social services to alleviate and remedy the socio-economic conditions that place families at risk;
- developing and providing services and supports before and after intervention;
- proactively identifying groups of children the recognition and realization of whose rights may require MCFD to undertake special measures and develop special programming
- Replace the reference of prevention services in section 2(c) of the CFCSA, with a legislative provision that places a binding and measurable obligation on the Ministry to provide supports to keep families together who are at risk of having their children apprehended. The provision should place a positive obligation on the Ministry to take active efforts to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of the child’s family. The courts must then be satisfied that these active efforts proved unsuccessful in keeping the family together.
- Expand the list of supports under section 5 to include:
- improving the family’s financial situation;
- improving the family’s housing situation;
- improving parenting skills;
- improving child-care and child-rearing capabilities;
- improving homemaking skills;
- drug or alcohol treatment and rehabilitation;
- providing child care;
- mediation of disputes;
- self-help and empowerment of parents whose children have been, are or may be in need of protective services; and,
- transition supports for families who have just had a child apprehended or returned.
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Category and theme:
- Ableism ,
- Accessibility ,
- Accessible services and technology ,
- Classism ,
- Courts ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Disability and parenting ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Economic inequality ,
- Education and employment ,
- Health ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Housing and homelessness ,
- Human rights system ,
- Income insecurity and benefits ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- Indigenous issues in policing and justice ,
- Indigenous rights and self-governance ,
- International human rights ,
- Mental health and detention ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services ,
- Racism ,
- Substance use
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Recommendation 157:
Legislation should require Gladue factors to be used as mitigating factors only, unless the victim is an Indigenous woman in which case her wishes should take precedence over an offender.
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Recommendation 156:
Increase the ways in which failures to appear and other violations can be quashed early in the judicial process and take proactive steps to clear bench warrants for Indigenous women.
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Recommendation 3:
In order to ensure that all children are granted the right to participate in legal proceedings in Canada, it is critical that all parties take an intersectional approach to understanding children’s rights and needs (Martinson & Raven, 2020a). This means acknowledging the particular nuances of a child’s circumstances and recognising that these may vary on a case-by-case basis. This also requires courts to recognise children’s socio-economic status, gender identity and expression, and differing abilities, amongst other factors (Canadian Coalition on the Rights of Children, 2016; CBA, 2020; Martinson & Raven, 2020a, pp. 22-23). Upholding children’s rights requires the creation of an environment in which all children feel empowered to participate in legal proceedings that affect them, regardless of their circumstances (CBA, 2020).
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Category and theme:
- Ableism ,
- Access to justice ,
- Accessibility ,
- Accessible services and technology ,
- Ageism ,
- Classism ,
- Courts ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Homophobia and transphobia ,
- Human rights system ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- International human rights ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system
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Recommendation 32:
In consultation with experts, including human rights law organizations, trauma specialists, and people with lived experience, the Province of British Columbia should adopt a standardized tool and training protocol for conducting “stigma audits” of current laws, policies, and regulations in BC, and to inform the development of new laws, policies, and regulations.
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Recommendation 4:
IMPROVEMENTS TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PROCESSESS AND SUPPORT FOR ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES—exploration of alternative programs and changes to the courtroom practices
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Recommendation 4:
Implement independent civilian oversight of officials responsible for responding to and investigating violence against Indigenous women. Ensure that administrative, disciplinary, or criminal measures are available to hold such officials accountable when officers are found to have failed to act on reports of missing women or to have carried out biased or inadequate investigations of violence against Indigenous women.
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Category and theme:
- Access to justice ,
- Courts ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Gender-based violence ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Human rights system ,
- Indigenous issues in policing and justice ,
- Missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ2SIA+ people ,
- Policing ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system ,
- Sexism
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Recommendation 167:
Implement existing recommendations in Justice Reform for British Columbia by Community Legal Assistance Society, Pivot Legal Society, West Coast LEAF, and B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
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Category and theme:
- Access to justice ,
- Alternative solutions ,
- Courts ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Housing and homelessness ,
- Human rights system ,
- Indigenous issues in policing and justice ,
- International human rights ,
- Policing ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public education and reconciliation ,
- Public services
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Recommendation 12:
High risk cases (e.g., high conflict, presence of violence, allegations of parental alienation) pose a threat to children’s legal right to participation (Martinson & Raven, 2020b; Morrison et al., 2020). As such, safeguards must be put into place that ensure children’s rights are respected and that their access to justice and best interests are advanced in high-risk cases.
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