Taking Responsibility: Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Solicitor General on Its Review of Sentencins, Conditional Release, and Related Aspects of Corrections

Source: (1988) Ottowa: Canadian Government Publishing Center, Supply, and Services Canada.

This 1988 report examined the Canadian criminal justice system and different sentencing options available. It is structured as follows: Chapter two discuses a Canadian study of public attitudes towards sentencing and identifies other areas of misunderstanding which contribute to lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system. Similarly, as a means of reinforcing its view that criminal justice reforms must take place in a context responsive to victims and the community, the Committee has devoted Chapter Three to a discussion of the needs and interests of victims which for too long have been neglected by the criminal justice system. Chapters four to seven review the recent history of proposed sentencing reforms in Canada and present the Committee’s proposals for sentencing reforms. Chapters eight to ten identify the present forms of conditional release review the recent history of proposed reforms, and explain how the release process functions. Chapters eleven to Thirteen describe the Committee’s proposals for conditional release reform. Chapters fourteen to sixteen outline the Committee’s proposals for correctional program reform with particular emphasis on Native and women offenders. (excerpt)