This seminar is focused on emerging problems related to miscarriages of justice in Canadian criminal law. In the wake of famous cases such as Marshall, Milgaard, Morin and Sophonow, we explore the systemic causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. The suggested primary causes of wrongful convictions are examined, including police misconduct in the investigative process (with special emphasis on interrogation tactics); prosecutorial misconduct; ineffective assistance of counsel and its relation to wrongful conviction; and fallibility of professional and lay decision-makers in the process. The role of the media in uncovering or "creating" wrongful convictions is given separate consideration. Traditional institutional responses to wrongful convictions are evaluated, such as the efficacy of appellate review, Ministerial reviews under s.690, Royal Prerogative of Mercy, commissions of inquiry and the possibility of an independent tribunal designed and created to address wrongful convictions (as is the case in England with the Criminal Cases Review Commission). (To be offered jointly with LAW-679.)
This seminar is focused on emerging problems related to miscarriages of justice in Canadian criminal law. In the wake of famous cases such as Marshall, Milgaard, Morin and Sophonow, we explore the systemic causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. The suggested primary causes of wrongful convictions are examined, including police misconduct in the investigative process (with special emphasis on interrogation tactics); prosecutorial misconduct; ineffective assistance of counsel and its relation to wrongful conviction; and fallibility of professional and lay decision-makers in the process. The role of the media in uncovering or "creating" wrongful convictions is given separate consideration. Traditional institutional responses to wrongful convictions are evaluated, such as the efficacy of appellate review, Ministerial reviews under s.690, Royal Prerogative of Mercy, commissions of inquiry and the possibility of an independent tribunal designed and created to address wrongful convictions (as is the case in England with the Criminal Cases Review Commission). (To be offered jointly with LAW-679.)
