Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of June 16-30, 2012 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.

Canadian Association of Research Libraries E-lert for Jume 29, 2012

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) publishes a weekly E-lert, a current awareness bulletin that links to material on "research, innovation, scholarly publishing, scholarly communication, scholarly journals, electronic journals, copyright and access to published government information".

The June 29, 2012 issue is available on the CARL website. 

This week's issue links to quite a number of articles on copyright issues, including:

• CLA Statement on Licenses with Access Copyright in Post-Secondary Institutions
• European Union lawmakers reject global copyright pact
• An open letter on Access Copyright and the Canadian copyright emergency
• How Fair Use Can Help Solve the Orphan Works Problem

July 2012 Issue of AALL Spectrum Available

The July 2012 issue of AALL Spectrum, the monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, is now available.

It contains a few articles about library marketing and promotion that might interest readers in a time of austerity:

• Public Relations: Marketing Through the Ordinary . . . and the Extraordinary 
• Defensive Promotion: Twenty no-cost ways to promote your library and defend your budget

June 2012 Issue of Connected Bulletin on Courts and Social Media

The June 2012 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on the courts.

It is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

Most of the stories are about the United States, but there has occasionally been material about non-US matters.

The Canadian Centre for Court Technology tracks the same issues on this side of the border.

New Case Database for European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights has launched a new version of HUDOC, its database of case-law.

The new interface is intended to be more intuitive and to allow for easier filtering of search results by various facets such as country, relevant article of the European Convention of Human Rights, topic, etc.

English Law Commission Annual Report 2011/12

The most recent annual report of the Law Commission of England is now available.

The report includes highlights of the past year's work. In particular, the Commission saw two pieces of legislation that derive from its work reach the statute book: the Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Act 2011 and the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012.

A number of other reports are awaiting implementation in the areas of trust, marriage breakdown, conspiracy, business partnerships, renting homes, etc.

Part 4 of the report is entitled "Measuring Success" and provides interesting stats about the Commission's influence.

During the 2011 judicial calendar year, Commission reports were cited 310 times in UK judgments, and 38 times in the judgments of other common law jurisdictions.

The authors of the report also note that:

"the Commission’s work is widely quoted in academic journals and the media. A basic search on the internet reveals 512 references made in UK academic journals during the calendar year 2011, and our monitoring service picked up 658 references to the Law Commission from the media during 2011–12. Some of these will be made in support of the Commission; some may not be. At the very least these figures show that the Law Commission is gaining attention and stimulating debate on the issues with which we are tasked to deal. (p. 45)"

Canadian Library Association 2012 Conference Materials

The Canadian Library Association recently held its 2012 annual conference in Ottawa.

Many of the presenters have provided materials from their sessions, including PowerPoint slideshows, handouts, resource lists. Additional presentations will be added to the page as they are received.

Updated European Court of Human Rights Factsheets

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has published a series of Factsheets that describe important jurisprudence of the institution on a number of subjects.

The ECHR recently updated its Factsheets on hate speech,the treatment of the Roma minority, and child protection.

The ECHR hears complaints from individuals living in any of the member states of the Council of Europe about violations of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Council of Europe is one of the continent's oldest political organizations, founded in 1949. It has 47 member countries.

Slaw.ca Adds New Group of Intellectual Property Columnists

The online law blog/magazine Slaw.ca has announced that it is adding a new group of intellectual property columnists.

The new writers come from a range of law firms as well as from the University of Toronto.

Library of Parliament Publication on Proposed Federal Securities Regulator

The Library of Parliament recently made available a new publication entitled Proposed Federal Securities Regulator - 1. Economic Aspects:

"Over the years, a number of interests have promoted the creation of a federal securities regulator. Others, while working towards a greater harmonization of rules, have maintained that the current system of securities regulation is preferable."

"Most recently, the federal government proposed legislation to establish a federal regulator responsible for implementing a single Canadian securities statute, and in December 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the legislation was unconstitutional. A few months later, in the 2012 Budget, the government restated its economic arguments in support of creating a single regulator."

"This publication summarizes those economic arguments, as well as views in support of the current system. It also describes the current state of securities regulation and the actions taken by the federal government and other stakeholders regarding the proposed federal body."

Quebec Bar Association Annual Meeting Presentations Available

The Quebec Bar Association recently held its annual conference in Quebec City.

Conference presentations  are available on the site of the Centre d’accès à l’information juridique, the network of law libraries affiliated with the Association. Material is in French.

Annual Report of the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

Mario Dion, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, tabled his 2012-2012 annual report last week in the Canadian Senate.

The role of the Commissioner is to investigate:

• disclosures of wrongdoing in the federal public sector from public servants or members of the public; and
• complaints of reprisal from public servants and former public servants

According to Dion:

"This year, our Office achieved a number of significant milestones in the ongoing implementation of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (the Act).  These achievements underscore the breadth and range of our mandate, and they speak to the importance and sensitivity of the responsibilities given to us by Parliament to deal with both disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal."

"In March of this year, we tabled in Parliament the first report of a founded case of wrongdoing (...)"

"In the past year, the first three complaints of reprisal were filed with the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal. This Tribunal is composed of three judges of the Federal Court. Under the Act, the Commissioner applies to the Tribunal after the Office investigates a complaint and determines that there were reasonable grounds to believe that a reprisal has occurred (...) In the three cases currently before the Tribunal, retaliation actions were alleged to have been taken against public servants who had made disclosures of wrongdoing in their workplace. Regardless of whether wrongdoing had occurred, actions taken against a public servant for having made a disclosure of wrongdoing, or for participating in an investigation, are able to be investigated by our Office and ruled upon by the Tribunal. The definition of reprisal in the Act covers a wide range of possible actions. In the three cases currently before the Tribunal, the alleged reprisals are the termination of employment, the termination of an acting assignment and the withholding of a security clearance.We will report on the progress and/or outcome of these cases in the next Annual Report, as all three were still in progress at the end of this fiscal year."

The Office finished the year (ending March 31, 2012) with 39 ongoing investigations, more than double the number of cases from the previous year.

June 2012 Issue of Information Technology and Libraries

The June 2012 issue of Information Technology and Libraries is available. Since March 2012, it is been an open access, e-only publication.

I find the following articles of particular interest:

• Resource Discovery: Comparative Survey Results on Two Catalog Interfaces: "Like many libraries, the University of Minnesota Libraries-Twin Cities now offers a next-generation catalog alongside a traditional online public access catalog (OPAC). One year after the launch of its new platform as the default catalog, usage data for the OPAC remained relatively high, and anecdotal comments raised questions. In response, the libraries conducted surveys that covered topics such as perceptions of success, known-item searching, preferred search environments, and desirable resourcetypes. Results show distinct differences in the behavior of faculty, graduate student, and undergraduate survey respondents, and between library staff and non-library staff respondents. Both quantitative and qualitative data inform the analysis and conclusions."
• Usability Study of a Library’s Mobile Website: An Example from Portland State University: "To discover how a newly developed library mobile website performed across a variety of devices, the authors used a hybrid field and laboratory methodology to conduct a usability test of the website. Twelve student participants were recruited and selected according to phone type. Results revealed a wide array of errors attributed to site design, wireless network connections, as well as phone hardware and software. This study provides an example methodology for testing library mobile websites, identifies issues associated with mobile websites, and provides recommendations for improving the user experience."
• Practical Limits to the Scope of Digital Preservation: "This paper examines factors that limit the ability of institutions to digitally preserve the cultural heritage of the modern era. The author takes a wide-ranging approach to shed light on limitations to the scope of digital preservation.  The author finds that technological limitations to digital preservation have been addressed but still exist, and that non-technical aspects—access, selection, law, and finances—move into the foreground as technological limitations recede.  The author proposes a nested model of constraints to the scope of digital preservation and concludes that costs are digital preservation’s most pervasive limitation."

Information Technology and Libraries is published by LITA, the Library and Information Technology Association, a division of the American Library Association.

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of June 1-15, 2012 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.

May 2012 Issue of Connected Bulletin on Social Media and the Courts

The May 2012 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on the courts.

It is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

According to the inaugural April 2011 issue:

"This newsletter will provide news, information and resources on topics such as how courts are using new media, the impact of new media on court proceedings, ethical implications of judges and court staff using new media, and court policy issues relating to new media."

Most of the stories are about the United States, but there has occasionally been material about non-US matters.

The Canadian Centre for Court Technology tracks the same issues on this side of the border.

Law Society of Upper Canada Launches Family Law Site for General Public

The Law Society of Upper Canada has launched Your Law: Family Law in Ontario, a site that contains free legal information about child custody and access:

"Are you considering separating or divorcing from your spouse? Are you concerned about what will happen to your children after the break up? When two people have a child, each parent has an equal right and equal responsibility to raise the child. This is true whether the parents are married or not."

"When parents don’t live together, they are faced with important decisions about the care of their children. They must decide where the child will live, how much time the child will spend with each parent and how important decisions relating to the child will be made. Each parent’s financial support of the child will also have to be determined."

"Your Law: Family Law in Ontario provides you with information and access to resources on the emotional, financial, legal and social considerations relating to child custody, access and child support and will help you make the best decisions for you and your family."

 The site provides many useful links from organizations across Ontario, such as Community Legal Education Ontario, Department of Justice, Legal Aid Ontario and the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Community Legal Education Ontario Launches Podcast Series

The Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has launched a series of podcasts that people can subscribe to for free via iTunes.

So far, the available episodes deal with:

• telephone and mail agreements
• domestic disputes
• violence against women
• housing law in Ontario
• immigration
• phone scams

National Post Series on Ontario's Crowded Justice System

The National Post newspaper has published a three-part series on the challenges facing the court system in the province of Ontario:

• Courting disaster? The long, long wait for justice in Ontario (June 9, 2012): "Despite efforts by the provincial Ministry of the Attorney-General to speed up the criminal court system, which receives more than half a million charges in dozens of courthouses annually, persistent backlogs continue to fuel frustration among lawyers, judges, accused persons and members of the public. This month marks the deadline for the ministry’s four-year push to slash by 30% the average number of appearances and days required to complete a criminal case, but the latest numbers show the province has achieved barely a fraction of that goal, reducing appearances by about 6% and days by about 1%. Though the province’s so-called Justice on Target strategy continues past the June benchmark, experts and insiders say it is failing to tackle some of the fundamental problems within Ontario’s $400-million court system."
• Courting disaster: What do you do with repeat offenders? (June 11, 2012): " 'It’s not uncommon to see someone come in with a criminal record in the three digits, whether that be just making the three-digit mark or the high 100s,' said Toronto Police Det.-Sgt. Brian Kelly, a veteran of the force (...) One veteran Crown attorney calls such offenders 'the rounders,' noting they typically plead guilty early and receive a short sentence only to get out and immediately breach probation, in what is essentially a 'revolving door system.' (...) Experts and justice-system insiders are divided on how to deal with 'the rounders,' with some calling for longer sentences or American-style 'three-strikes' laws, and others maintaining that will not fix the fundamental social problems giving rise to career criminals. Many repeat offenders suffer from mental illness or addiction problems, and commit crimes to feed those addictions, Det.-Sgt. Kelly noted. Measures outside of custodial sentences, such as drug and mental-health treatment programs, are an important aspect of the system, he said, but they are not always enough.
  Courting disaster: How increased digitization of court records could streamline system (June 12, 2012): "Lawyers file thick binders of materials at trial. Those looking to attend court hearings in Ontario must telephone to confirm dates, and paper sheets are posted inside the courthouse each morning with room numbers. Fully staffed court hearings are required for simple matters such as setting trial dates. All of these things consume unnecessary time and resources, while in other provinces — like Alberta, where lawyers can book trials via BlackBerry — such tasks have moved to the electronic realm. Ontario’s system, experts say, remains at least a decade behind other Canadian jurisdictions and has become an embarrassment to the administration of justice in this province."

Survey on Law Libraries Dropping Vendors

The Private Law Libraries (PLL) and Knowledge Management Special Interest Groups of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries  are jointly carrying out a survey.

The aim of this survey is to find out how many law libraries have switched (or are planning to switch) to having only one of LexisNexis Quicklaw or Westlaw.

Statistics Canada Report on How Often Police Solve Crimes

Statistics Canada has published an article in its Juristat publication on Police-reported clearance rates in Canada, 2010.

The article shows that police are solving more crimes than in the past.

Among the highlights:

• In 2010, three-quarters of homicides were solved by police. Clearance rates for homicide have gradually declined from around 95% in the early 1960s when data were first collected.
• In 2010, almost three-quarters of violent crimes were solved by police compared with about one-quarter of property crimes.
• Police solved just over 8 in 10 aggravated assault and aggravated sexual assault incidents in 2010, among the highest clearance rates for violent offences. 
• About 4 in 10 robberies were solved by police, the lowest of any violent offence.
• Clearance rates for property crimes were somewhat lower. For example, police cleared about 1 in 6 break-ins and 1 in 7 motor vehicle thefts in 2010.

Overall, the so-called "weighted clearance rate" rose for the seventh consecutive year to 39.4% in 2010, up from 33.5% in 2003:

"The clearance rate represents the proportion of criminal incidents solved by the police. Police can clear an incident by charge or by means other than the laying of a charge. For an incident to be cleared by charge, at least one accused must have been identified and either a charge has been laid, or recommended to be laid, against this individual in connection with the incident. For an incident to be cleared otherwise, an accused must be identified and there must be sufficient evidence to lay a charge in connection with the incident, but the accused is processed by other means for one of many reasons (...)"

"Total clearance rates share the same limitation as total crime rates in that overall totals are dominated by high-volume, less-serious offences such as minor thefts, mischief and minor assaults. Many of these less-serious offences which drive the overall clearance rate are often difficult to solve. For example, by the time an incident of graffiti/mischief to property is reported to police, the accused may no longer be present at the crime scene, nor will there likely be any witnesses. In the calculation of the overall clearance rate, all offences are counted equally: the clearance of one mischief incident by police counts the same as the solving of one homicide incident."

"To address this limitation, a 'weighted' clearance rate was developed, similar to the concept used in the Crime Severity Index. The weighted clearance rate assigns values to crimes according to their seriousness, with more serious crimes being given a higher statistical 'weight'. For example, the clearing of a homicide, robbery or break-in would represent a greater contribution to the overall weighted clearance rate value than the clearing of a minor theft, mischief or disturbing the peace. The severity of an offence is determined using average sentences handed down by Canadian criminal courts. The more serious the average sentence for an offence, the higher the weight and, in turn, the greater impact on the overall clearance rate."

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of May 16-31, 2012 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.

University of Windsor Law Prof Finds Self-Represented Litigants Going Through "Real Trauma"

This is a follow-up to the January 25, 2012 Library Boy post entitled Research Project on Self-Represented Litigants.

University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane is interviewing hundreds of self-represented litigants in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. about their experiences in the family and civil court systems.

As part of her research so far, she has discovered that up to 80 per cent of people in family court and 60 per cent in civil cases represent themselves. This has to do with lower funding for legal aid programs and the greater availability of legal information online.

She explained to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that many people are having a bad experience:

"Whatever reason, the results are rarely favourable or enjoyable for those who choose to go it alone, according Macfarlane."

" 'I can certainly tell you I’ve heard a few good stories, but the overwhelming majority of the stories from people are ones of frustrations,' Macfarlane said."

"Macfarlane found people who represent themselves 'suffer real trauma' in doing so.She said the process 'overwhelms them'."

"Many people report feeling as if they were treated as second-class citizens and not taken seriously (...)"

"She also found judges can be difficult to deal with, according to reports. 'Judges are accustomed to dealing with legal counsel who are much more familiar with the process. Judges can become exasperated and impatient with self-represented litigants,' Macfarlane said."

 Earlier Library Boy posts on the topic include:

• Judges Struggling to Deal With Increased Number of Self-Represented Litigants (November 1, 2010): "This week's issue of The Lawyers Weekly includes the article Judges grapple with unrepresented litigants that quotes Judge François Rolland, chief justice of Quebec’s Superior Court, on the growing and disturbing trend towards self-represented litigants (...)"
• Dealing With Self-Represented Litigants (August 22, 2011): "Precise statistics are hard to come by. Still, in a survey of lawyers attending the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Family Law Summit last June, Queen’s University law professor Nicholas Bala found that 80 per cent of the 167 respondents reported they were encountering SRLs more often."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries: June 15 Deadline for James D. Lang Memorial Scholarship

June 15 is the next deadline for applications to the James D. Lang Memorial Scholarship, awarded three times a year by the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL):

"The scholarship is designed to support attendance at a continuing education program, be it a workshop, certificate program or other similar activity deemed appropriate by the CALL/ACBD Scholarships and Awards Committee."

The scholarship is open to members of the association who have been in good standing for a minimum of twelve months.

An application form is available online.

Library of Parliament Research Publication on Prostitution

The Library of Parliament recently updated its research publication on Prostitution in Canada: International Obligations, Federal Law, and Provincial and Municipal Jurisdiction.

From the introduction:

"Canada’s approach to dealing with prostitution beyond its borders and within them is a multifaceted one, involving a combination of criminal laws at the federal level, provincial/territorial laws and municipal solutions that highlight the various jurisdictional responsibilities at play. While prostitution (consensual sex between two adults for consideration) is legal in Canada, most activities surrounding the act of prostitution - including public solicitation, pimping, operating a brothel, trafficking in persons and the commercial sexual exploitation of children - are prohibited."

"This paper provides an overview of how jurisdictions across Canada handle the question of prostitution, from negotiating Canada’s international obligations in this regard, to implementing federal criminal laws and provincial/territorial and municipal measures to deal with specific issues at a practical level."

Program Announced for 2012 Law Via the Internet Conference

The list of speakers and presentations has been published for the upcoming Law Via the Internet conference to be held October 7-9, 2012, at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York.

The Law via the Internet conference is organized by the Legal Information Institutes (LIIs) from different countries and continents that together form the Free Access to Law Movement.

2012 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, the first legal website on the Internet and the birthplace of the free law, open access movement. It is also the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on Free Access to Law.

The goal of the LIIs is to maximize free access to public legal information such as legislation and case law from as many countries and international institutions as possible.

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, is a prominent member of the movement.

Ten-Country Comparison of Government Access to Cloud Data

The law firm Hogan Lovells recently released a white paper providing an analysis across ten jurisdictions of government access to data stored in the cloud.

The paper was written by Christopher Wolf, co-director of Hogan Lovells' Privacy and Information Management practice, and Paris Office partner Winston Maxwell. It was released in late May at a program presented by the Openforum Academy in Brussels.

The paper compares the situation in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

As Hogan Lovell states in its Chronicle of Data Protection blog:

"The White Paper reveals that every jurisdiction examined vests authority in the government to require a Cloud service provider to disclose customer data. It explains why the access provisions of the USA Patriot Act are narrower than commonly thought."

"The White Paper also reveals that, unlike in the United States where the law specifically protects cloud data from access by the government without legal process, data stored in the Cloud may be disclosed to governmental authorities voluntarily in some jurisdictions, without legal process and protections."

"The White Paper concludes that businesses are misleading themselves and their customers if they believe that restricting Cloud service providers to one jurisdiction better insulates data from governmental access. It is incorrect to assume that the United States government’s access to data in the Cloud is greater than that of other advanced economies."

[Source: Canadian Privacy Law Blog]

May 2012 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter, published by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), highlights issues pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and private sector.

The May 2012 issue has just been published on the LAC website.

It includes:

• news items from Canada and around the world
• announcements of upcoming Canadian and international events (meetings, workshops, seminars)
• project and product news in areas such as digitization, archives, open source, e-government, access to information and Web 2.0 initiatives
• selected papers and readings (white papers, presentations, reports)

Library of Parliament Legislative Summary of Protecting Canada’s Seniors Act

The Library of Parliament has made available its legislative summary of Bill C-36: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Elder Abuse):

"Bill C-36, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (elder abuse) (short title: Protecting Canada’s Seniors Act), was introduced in the House of Commons on 15 March 2012 by the Honourable Gordon O’Connor, for the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Rob Nicholson. The bill specifies that 'evidence that the offence had a significant impact on the victim, considering their age and other personal circumstances, including their health and financial situation' is an aggravating factor to be taken into account during sentencing for a crime (...)"

"The aggravating factors enumerated in section 718.2(a) of the Criminal Code were introduced in 1995 as part of a lengthy process of sentencing reform that also resulted in the codification of the purpose and fundamental principle of sentencing and the creation of 'conditional sentences' (sentences of imprisonment to be served in the community), among other developments. Generally speaking, when aggravating factors, or aggravating circumstances, are present in a particular case, the judge will impose a lengthier sentence to better reflect the gravity of the offence (...)"

"Bill C-36 consists of three clauses, including the short title (clause 1) and the provision indicating that the bill will come into force 30 days after Royal Assent (clause 3). The only substantive provision is clause 2, which would add a seventh enumerated aggravating factor to section 718.2(a) of the Code. In particular, section 718.2(a)(iii.1) would specify that 'evidence that the offence had a significant impact on the victim, considering their age and other personal circumstances, including their health and financial situation' is deemed to be an aggravating circumstance to be taken into consideration during sentencing."

"The term 'elder abuse' does not appear in the text of the bill, nor does the bill indicate that the aggravating circumstance will apply only if the victim has reached a specified age. As a result, it is possible that the aggravating factor could be applied in cases that would not generally be perceived as cases of 'elder abuse'."

Adult Criminal Court Statistics in Canada, 2010/2011

Last week, Statistics Canada published an article in its publication Juristat entitled Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2010/2011:

" ... this Juristat article presents information on the characteristics of criminal court cases involving adults (18 years and older). More specifically, it examines the number and types of cases completed in adult criminal courts, the decisions made in relation to these cases and the sentences imposed upon those found guilty. In addition, this article looks briefly at the length of time taken to complete adult criminal court cases and the factors that influence timeliness."

"It is important to note that the data presented in this article represent approximately 95% of the caseload completed in Canadian adult criminal courts. In 2010/2011, information from superior courts in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec (which accounted for about one-quarter of all Criminal Code charges in that province) was unavailable."

Among the highlights:

• Adult criminal courts in Canada completed nearly 403,000 cases in 2010/2011, involving about 1.2 million charges. The caseload was virtually the same as the previous year following three consecutive annual increases
• In 2010/2011, 77% of all cases completed involved property, administration of justice, traffic or other non-violent Criminal Code offences, or federal statute offences such as drug offences. Violent offences accounted for the remaining 23%
• Among completed cases, the most commonly occurring offences were impaired driving, which represented 12% of the total, theft (11%), common assault (9%), failure to comply with a court order (9%), and breach of probation (8%)
• While those aged 18 to 24 represented 12% of the adult population in Canada, this age group accounted for 30% of all those accused in adult criminal court
• The most common type of sentence imposed in adult criminal courts was probation, handed down in 45% of all guilty cases. The median length of probation in 2010/2011 was 365 days in nearly every province and territory. In 2010/2011, one-third (33%) of guilty adult criminal court cases resulted in a sentence to custody, which has generally been the case for the past decade. Sentences to custody were most often imposed by courts in Prince Edward Island (63%) and least often in Nunavut (23%).The majority (86%) of custodial sentences were for a term of six months or less