NCJ Number
86745
Date Published
1981
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Canada's criminal justice system should continually review the changing patterns of crime, the purposes of criminal justice, protection of individual rights, punishment, restitution, economic theories of crime, criterion of right, and the adversary concept.
Abstract
Patterns of crime are constantly changing as social and technological conditions change. Some new crime patterns are in the areas of corporate crime, invasion of privacy, ecological defense, and mass demonstrations. In 1969 the Canadian Committee on Corrections established principles that define the proper scope and functions of criminal justice that are still applicable. The principles emphasize the minimum state intervention required to protect the public from serious harm and the unbiased use of discretion at each stage of criminal justice processing. It is particularly important that the criminal law continue to protect individual citizens from the arbitrary use of state power. Further, the three aims of punishment -- retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation -- should be reviewed. Retribution should fit the severity of the crime and the degree of guilt, while the effectiveness of deterrence must be measured in relation to types of offenses and offenders. Rehabilitation is under attack, but this does not justify the greater use of punitive measures, since this has clearly been shown to aggravate deviant behavior. Restitution offers an approach to sanctions that not only provides rehabilitative influences for the offender but benefits the victim and the community as well. Economic theories of crime have focused upon reducing the economic rewards of crime in comparison to economic gains from normative living. Policy should focus upon this goal. In revising criminal law, attention must be given to large-scale and apparently long-term shifts in public opinion. To try and govern a people by laws no longer supported by the public is fruitless and perceived as oppressive. While the adversary system is still an acceptable fundamental structure for achieving justice, efforts should be made to reduce the elements of a contest between prosecution and defense, such as permitting complete pretrial discovery for both the defense and prosecution. Thirteen notes and 14 suggested further readings are provided.