Timelines for Wrongful-Conviction Reviews

AI summary

Petitioners say applicants for wrongful-conviction review can wait many years, causing hardship, uncertainty, and diminished confidence in Canada’s justice system; they also say there are no legislated timelines for intake, assessment, investigation and decision-making and cite the Supreme Court decision R. v. Jordan. They ask the House of Commons to establish statutory timelines and transparency under s. 696.1, including assigning a case number and reviewer within 30 days, a preliminary assessment within 180 days, an 18‑month deadline for final decisions after a negative preliminary assessment and applicant response, a 30‑month cap where further investigation is recommended, periodic written status updates, and a statutory right to seek judicial release.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons Wrongful-conviction review applicants may wait many years for review and final determination, causing hardship, uncertainty, and diminished confidence in Canada’s justice system; No legislated timelines currently govern wrongful-conviction review applications, including intake, assessment, investigation, recommendation, and final decision-making; In the Supreme Court of Canada decision R. v. Jordan, unreasonable delay in criminal proceedings was recognized as harmful to fairness, justice, and public confidence in the administration of justice; and Fairness, transparency, and timely justice are essential where miscarriages of justice are alleged. We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to: 1. Establish timelines, transparency, and fairness in wrongful conviction reviews in Canada under s. 696.1; 2. Require assignment of a case number upon acceptance of a completed wrongful-conviction review application and assignment of a reviewer within 30 days; 3. Require completion of a preliminary assessment within 180 days; 4. Require that where a preliminary negative assessment is issued, and the applicant responds, the Minister of Justice or successor wrongful-conviction review authority render a final decision no later than 18 months from acceptance of the completed application; 5. Require that where a recommendation for review or further investigation is made, the application automatically proceed under a maximum 30-month timeline from acceptance of the completed application, including under any successor wrongful-conviction review commission or authority established by Parliament; 6. Require periodic written status updates to applicants; and 7. Establish a statutory right to seek judicial release, comparable to release mechanisms available during criminal appeals in Canada, once a wrongful-conviction review application has been accepted as complete.

Government response

No government response is available yet.