Recently Released Reports from Justice Canada

The most recent issue of the Weekly Checklist of Canadian Government Publications refers to a number of reports recently made available by Justice Canada. They deal with family violence, Canada's assistance in international criminal investigations, and drug use.

• Making the Links in Family Violence Cases: Collaboration among the Family, Child Protection and Criminal Justice Systems (2013): "This report is intended for justice system professionals and those working within the criminal justice, family justice and child protection systems. This includes federal-provincial-territorial officials, Crown prosecutors, family and criminal lawyers in the private sector, children’s law yers, members of the judiciary, court officials, child protection workers, child custody assessors, mediators, parenting coordinators, law enforcement officials, corrections officials, victim service workers and front-line service providers. The annexes to this report (Volume II) also contain a wealth of information about legal, policy, and service frameworks across Canada that have been developed to address family violence. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to these challenges given that each jurisdiction is unique and not all of the promising practices will be applicable in some remote, rural or Aboriginal communities. It is important to note that this report does not provide a thorough assessment of the specific needs and issues of Aboriginal Canadians experiencing family violence and having contact with the different sectors of the justice system. Although this report does not make specific recommendations and the promising practices do not necessarily address all the identified gaps, it is hoped that the findings will serve as a basis for future efforts to enhance collaboration on this important issue. "
• Requesting Mutual Legal Assistance from Canada: A Step-by-Step Guide (2013): "A foreign state may request assistance from Canada in the gathering of evidence or the enforcement of some criminal orders (seizure orders, confiscation orders, fines) through three separate routes: (i) treaty and convention requests, (ii) letters rogatory (court issued non-treaty letter of request) and (iii) non-treaty requests. In rare circumstances, Canada may enter into an administrative arrangement with a non-treaty country to give effect to an individual request for assistance, for a time-limited period. The widest assistance can be provided for treaty or convention requests. More limited assistance is available for letters rogatory and non-treaty requests. "
• An overview of non-medical use of prescription drugs and criminal justice issues in Canada (2009, 2013): "In Canada, the non-medical use of prescription drugs, specifically prescription opioids (POs) and benzodiazepines (BDs), have gathered attention in recent years. Although nation-wide epidemiological data are currently sparse, provincial data and data from the US indicate an area of growing concern. The following report explores the trends of non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPOs) and benzodiazepines (NMUBDs), the health and societal implications of non-medical use and some of the criminal justice policy is sues in Canada."

The Weekly Checklist includes a listing of titles made available by the Parliament of Canada, federal departments, and Statistics Canada to the Depository Services Program for distribution to a network of Depository Libraries in Canada and abroad.