Accountability in Canadian Penitentiaries - Disciplinary Procedures and Judicial Review (From Accountability and Prisons, P 245-263, 1986, Mike Maguire et al, eds. - See NCJ-100462)

• NCJ Number: 100475
• Author(s): C C Mandell; A L Mandell
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Methuen, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After describing inmate disciplinary procedures in Canadian Federal penitentiaries, this paper examines judicial review of disciplinary court decisions, with particular attention to inmate claims under the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Abstract

An inmate charged with a flagrant or serious offense normally appears before a disciplinary court presided over by an independent chairperson, who conducts a hearing to determine the accused's guilt or innocence. Hearing procedures are specified in the Commissioner's Directive and Divisional Instruction. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that a disciplinary court is subject to the common law duty to act fairly and that remedies for breach of this duty can be granted by the Federal Court, Trial Division. A review of the court's action in such cases indicates it applies a high standard of procedural fairness to the disciplinary process, having frequently granted redress to inmates. Some inmates have sought redress before the court under the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court has held that the charter does not create any new principles of law or rights applicable to the penitentiary disciplinary court, but it has also held that certain rights guaranteed in the charter can be allowed in a penitentiary disciplinary hearing.