Annual Report on Applications to Review Miscarriages of Justice

In last week's Weekly Checklist of federal government publications, the 2006 annual report by Justice Canada on applications for ministerial review in cases of possible miscarriages of justice is listed:

"Under Canadian law, the Minister of Justice has the legal authority to review a criminal conviction on the basis that there may have been a miscarriage of justice (...)"

"If the Minister is satisfied that those matters provide a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred, the Minister may grant the convicted person a remedy - a referral of the case to the court of appeal to be heard as a new appeal or a direction for a new trial. The Minister does not determine an applicant's guilt or innocence - he or she can merely return cases to the courts where those determinations may be made".

"Pursuant to section 696.5 of the Criminal Code, the Minister of Justice is required to submit an annual report to Parliament regarding applications for ministerial review (miscarriages of justice) within six months of the end of the fiscal year. This is the fourth annual report and it covers the period April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006. Under the regulations, the Minister's annual report must address the following matters:

• the number of applications for ministerial review made to the Minister;
• the number of applications that have been abandoned or that are incomplete;
• the number of applications that are at the preliminary assessment stage;
• the number of decisions that the Minister has made;
• and any other information that the Minister considers appropriate".