Canadian Civil Liberties Association » Liberty and Due Process http://ccla.org Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:11:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Supreme Court to Consider Issue of Niqab in the Courtroom http://ccla.org/2011/12/08/supreme-court-to-consider-issue-of-niqab-in-the-courtroom/ http://ccla.org/2011/12/08/supreme-court-to-consider-issue-of-niqab-in-the-courtroom/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:20:52 +0000 Cara Zwibel http://ccla.org/?p=12616 The Supreme Court of Canada will consider an appeal which looks at the issue of whether a sexual assault complainant may testify in Court while wearing a niqab for religious reasons.  The case, on appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal, arose when one of the defendants in a sexual assault case claimed that his [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/12/08/supreme-court-to-consider-issue-of-niqab-in-the-courtroom/feed/ 0 Press Release: CCLA To Intervene In Occupy Toronto Hearing http://ccla.org/2011/11/18/press-release-ccla-to-intervene-in-occupy-toronto-hearing/ http://ccla.org/2011/11/18/press-release-ccla-to-intervene-in-occupy-toronto-hearing/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:40:51 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=12339 November 18, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

http://ccla.org/?p=12260 The Supreme Court of Canada last week released an important decision regarding informer privilege.  The Court ruled that the informer privilege cannot be extended to prevent the defence, or agent, from conducting a lawful investigation into the identity of the informer — this was the position taken by the CCLA in our intervention in this [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/11/01/supreme-court-rules-defence-has-right-to-investigate-informer-identity-lawfully/feed/ 0 ‘Tough on crime’ is not a national mental-health strategy http://ccla.org/2011/10/21/%e2%80%98tough-on-crime%e2%80%99-is-not-a-national-mental-health-strategy/ http://ccla.org/2011/10/21/%e2%80%98tough-on-crime%e2%80%99-is-not-a-national-mental-health-strategy/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:18:27 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=12213 This op-ed was originally published by Post Media News on October 21, 2011

The numbers are stark. Approximately a quarter of all individuals admitted to federal prisons show signs of mental health illness – without counting those who have substance abuse problems – and one in five are prescribed psychiatric medication. Internal Correctional Service Canada (CSC) documents [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/10/21/%e2%80%98tough-on-crime%e2%80%99-is-not-a-national-mental-health-strategy/feed/ 0 CCLA intervenes in Aboriginal sentencing case http://ccla.org/2011/10/18/ccla-intervenes-in-aboriginal-sentencing-case/ http://ccla.org/2011/10/18/ccla-intervenes-in-aboriginal-sentencing-case/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:45:52 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=12096 Over a decade ago, the Supreme Court recognized that widespread racism against Aboriginal people within Canada had “translated into systemic discrimination in the criminal justice system,” with the result that Aboriginal Canadians were “drastic[ally] overrepresent[ed] … within both the Canadian prison population and the criminal justice system.”

Parliament also recognized this “crisis in [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/10/18/ccla-intervenes-in-aboriginal-sentencing-case/feed/ 0 Mandatory minimum sentences are just plain wrong http://ccla.org/2011/10/17/mandatory-minimum-sentences-are-just-plain-wrong/ http://ccla.org/2011/10/17/mandatory-minimum-sentences-are-just-plain-wrong/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:16:58 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=12174 This op-ed was originally published by Post Media News on October 17th 2011

There are many reasons why people object to minimum sentences: they do nothing for victims, they do not deter offenders, they cost too much money and they displace power from judges, who give their reasons in open court, to Crown prosecutors, who make [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/10/17/mandatory-minimum-sentences-are-just-plain-wrong/feed/ 0 The CCLA reacts to the Safe Streets and Communities Act http://ccla.org/2011/09/20/the-ccla-reacts-to-the-safe-streets-and-communities-act/ http://ccla.org/2011/09/20/the-ccla-reacts-to-the-safe-streets-and-communities-act/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:30:53 +0000 Graeme Norton http://ccla.org/?p=11929 On September 20, Justice Minister Robert Nicholson tabled the much anticipated Safe Streets and Communities Act, which bundles nine pieces of legislation from past sessions of Parliament together into a single omnibus bill. While this bill includes many core components of the government’s criminal law agenda, further enhancements of police powers are also expected to [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/09/20/the-ccla-reacts-to-the-safe-streets-and-communities-act/feed/ 0 CCLA to intervene to promote access to justice and police accountability http://ccla.org/2011/06/23/ccla-to-intervene-to-promote-access-to-justice-and-police-accountability/ http://ccla.org/2011/06/23/ccla-to-intervene-to-promote-access-to-justice-and-police-accountability/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:11:22 +0000 Graeme Norton http://ccla.org/?p=10985 The CCLA was recently granted leave to intervene before the Ontario Court of Appeal in Schaeffer v. Wood, a case addressing several important legal issues, including:

1.)    the scope of “public interest standing” before courts;

2.)    whether police officers deemed a “subject” or “witness” in a Special Investigations Unit (“SIU”) investigation can share the same lawyer; and

3.)    [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/06/23/ccla-to-intervene-to-promote-access-to-justice-and-police-accountability/feed/ 0 G20 Fact Sheet – By the Numbers http://ccla.org/2011/06/21/g20-fact-sheet-by-the-numbers/ http://ccla.org/2011/06/21/g20-fact-sheet-by-the-numbers/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:50:13 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=10977 Money spent

-       On entire Summit: approximately $664 million

-       On Summit security: $509.9 million (77% of the budget for the entire Summit)

Number of police – approximately 20,000

Number of arrests – 1105

Number of people charges – 330

As of June 20, 2011, of those charged:

270 individuals have had their matters completed: 24 [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/06/21/g20-fact-sheet-by-the-numbers/feed/ 0 Op-ed: Smart on crime does not mean mandatory minimums http://ccla.org/2011/04/30/op-ed-smart-on-crime-does-not-mean-mandatory-minimums/ http://ccla.org/2011/04/30/op-ed-smart-on-crime-does-not-mean-mandatory-minimums/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:56:31 +0000 Communications http://ccla.org/?p=10598 This op-ed was originally published on Canada.com as part of their Real Agenda series for the 2011 federal election.

Trafficking of drugs creates many problems for society. These are serious problems that affect many Canadians and we should encourage our governments to solve them. However, this ought not to include mandatory minimum [...]]]> http://ccla.org/2011/04/30/op-ed-smart-on-crime-does-not-mean-mandatory-minimums/feed/ 0