Reforming Police Powers: Who's in Charge? (From Police Powers in Canada: The Evolution and Practice of Authority, P 100-118, 1994, R.C. Macleod and David Schneiderman, eds. - See NCJ-157774)

• NCJ Number: 157780
• Author(s): M L Friedland
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This article discusses the process of criminal law reform as it is progressing in Canada, and compares it to the development of a new Federal Criminal Code in the U.S.

Abstract

The Law Reform Commission of Canada, established in 1971, worked for over two decades, until its abolition in 1992, to craft legislation that would pass muster in Parliament in terms of reforming criminal procedures and police powers. A similar process has been taking place in the U.S., where efforts to write a new Federal Criminal Code began in 1966, with no enactment of legislation to date. In the U.S., the Supreme Court was very active in the 1960's and 1970's, attempting to set uniform minimum standards for the administration of criminal justice according to the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. This author argues that, in Canada, the better way of reforming criminal law and procedure is through the Parliament rather than through the courts. Examples of cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada demonstrate that the judiciary has made criminal law reform more difficult by constitutionalizing much of the current criminal law, and taking away from Parliament the impetus to enact legislative reforms. 101 notes