Department of Justice

OTTAWA, March 17, 2000 -- The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced that she would not grant a further remedy under section 690 of the Criminal Code to Patrick Kelly.

On November 25, 1996, then Minister of Justice Allan Rock granted Mr.Kelly a remedy by referring his 1984 conviction for first degree murder to the Ontario Court of Appeal, under section 690. The Minister asked the Ontario Court of Appeal to consider the new information presented by Mr. Kelly, to determine whether such information would be admissible on appeal to the Court of Appeal, and if so, to treat the matter as if it were an appeal. The majority of the Court of Appeal concluded that none of the information presented would be admissible on appeal.

After receiving the response from the Ontario Court of Appeal, Mr. Kelly asked the Minister to consider granting him a further remedy, by either ordering a new trial under section 690, or recommending to the Governor in Council that a question be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, under section 53 of the Supreme Court Act.

In responding to Mr. Kelly, Minister McLellan stated that she had carefully reviewed all of the information and submissions made on his behalf, as well as the response from the Ontario Court of Appeal to the questions posed in the Reference by Minister Rock.

"There is no basis to order that Mr. Kelly's case be retried or referred to another judicial body for further consideration. The three-member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal provided very detailed analysis of the new information referred to it by my predecessor," said Minister McLellan. "I have carefully reviewed their respective opinions and Mr. Kelly's response to those opinions, and I am not prepared to grant a new trial on the basis of that information which was so comprehensively assessed by the Ontario Court of Appeal."

"The new information that arose after Mr. Kelly's conviction did, in my opinion, require a thorough review. Minister Rock referred the case to the appropriate judicial body for review, the Ontario Court of Appeal. Therefore, concerns regarding Mr. Kelly's conviction have been made the subject of judicial review. A further referral of the same information already reviewed by the Court of Appeal would not be the appropriate subject matter of a Reference to the Supreme Court of Canada."

"In arriving at my conclusion, I have considered the nature of the remedy provided by section 690, my role as Minister of Justice and the guiding principles as outlined in the reasons for decision", added the Minister. "I am satisfied that Mr. Kelly's conviction has been thoroughly reviewed both judicially and through the section690 conviction review process."

Section 690 of the Criminal Code allows the Minister of Justice to direct a new trial or a new hearing if, after an inquiry, the Minister is satisfied that in the circumstances, a new trial or hearing should be directed. The Minister may also refer to the Court of Appeal any question on which the Minister desires the assistance of that Court.

A copy of the reasons for decision of the Minister of Justice is available on the departmental web site.

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