Canada's Criminal Justice: Bill C-54 seeks to change NCR label







Bill C-54 which seeks to amend the definition of the legal defence ‘not criminally responsible,’ could cause defence lawyers to abstain from using that defence with their clients, says correctional investigator Howard Sapers. The designation of ‘not criminally responsible, or NCR, is given out in situations where it is discovered that a crime has been committed, however it is not appropriate to give the accused a traditional sentence such as jail time, due to mental illness. Instead the usual outcome is discharge, or time in a psychiatric facility.

The bill seeks to make the primary concern when debating giving out this label public safety, as opposed to the current model, which includes three other factors to consider ie: mental condition, reintegration into society, and the needs of the accused.

It also takes into account victim impact statements to a greater degree than is seen currently, which of course can cause problems and take away from the logical fact heavy nature of our legal system debasing it to emotional purely testimony.

Those in the mental health community are afraid this proposed bill will further criminalize mental illnesses.  The stigmatization of mental illnesses may discourage people from seeking help.

"We encourage all legislators and stakeholders to work together to ensure Bill C-54 strikes the right balance to encourage treatment and avoid the unnecessary stigmatization of Canadians who live with mental illness," said CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada Louise Bradley who spoke to Meagan Fitzpatrick of the CBC May 27th.

Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers questions the utility of Bill C-54 from the outset.

"It would be very important to know exactly where the weaknesses are and exactly how these legislative proposals will address these weaknesses, [...] so I just wonder why Bill C-54 is seen as necessary," he said.

Sapers is also concerned that defense lawyers may abstain from using the defense of NCR in cases where the accused may actually need it.

"It's because of [...] uncertainty that defense counsel have told me that they would hesitate. And to the best of their ability they'd be seeking direction, they'd be seeking the input of the clients, but of course that is a bit problematic as well considering that we're necessarily talking about people with known, diagnosed, significant mental illness," Sapers said.

In a March 2013 report for the research and statistics division of the Canadian department of Justice, researchers from Mcgill University, U of T, UBC and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières analyzed the results of accused deemed NCR, and found that they had a median recidivism rate of only 10.4%, so the government may want to devote resources to more pressing issues.

There is already a serious social concern regarding the high levels of criminally institutionalized mentally ill people who should be in hospitals but are instead sitting in jail, the unnecessary amendment of NCR status may end up doing more harm than good.


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