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Appendix 2
Regulations
Respecting Applications for Ministerial Review - Miscarriages
of Justice
Interpretation
- The following
definitions apply in these Regulations.
"Code" means theCriminal Code. (Code)
"Minister" means the Minister of Justice.
(ministre)
Application
- (1) For the
purposes of subsection 696.1(2) of the Code, an application for
ministerial review under Part XXI.1 of the Code shall be in the
form set out in the schedule and contain the following
information:
- with respect to the applicant,
- the applicant's name, including any alias
or former name,
- the applicant's address, date of birth
and, if any, the number assigned to the applicant under the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police Automated Fingerprint Identification
System,
- the name, address and telephone number
of the person making the application on the applicant's behalf, if
any,
- whether the alleged miscarriage of
justice relates to a conviction on an offence punishable on summary
conviction or on an indictable offence, or, in the case of a
finding of dangerous offender or long-term offender under Part XXIV
of the Code, particulars of the finding, and
- whether the applicant is in
custody;
- with respect to any pre-trial hearings,
- the date of the preliminary inquiry, if
any,
- the court and its address, and
- the number, type and date of any
pre-trial motions, as well as the court decision on those
motions;
- with respect to the trial,
- the date on which it started,
- the court and its address, the plea
entered at trial, the mode of trial and the date of the conviction
and that of sentencing,
- the names and addresses of all counsel
involved in the trial, and
- the number, type and date of any motions
made, as well as the date of the court decision on those
motions;
- particulars regarding any subsequent appeals to the
court of appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada;
- the grounds for the application; and
- a description of the new matters of significance that
support the application.
(2) The application must be accompanied by the
following documents:
- the applicant's signed consent authorizing the
Minister
- to have access to the applicant's personal
information that is required for reviewing the application,
and
- to disclose to any person or body the
applicant's personal information obtained in the course of
reviewing the application in order for the Minister to obtain from
that
person or body any information that is required for reviewing the
application;
- a true copy of the information or indictment;
- a true copy of the trial transcript, including any
preliminary hearings;
- a true copy of all material filed by the defence counsel
and Crown counsel in support of any pre-trial and trial
motions;
- a true copy of all factums filed on appeal;
- a true copy of all court decisions; and
- any other documents necessary for the review of the
application.
Review of the Application
- On receipt of an
application completed in accordance with section 2, the Minister
shall
- send an acknowledgment letter to the applicant and the
person acting on the applicant's behalf, if any; and
- conduct a preliminary assessment of the
application
- (1) After the
preliminary assessment has been completed, the Minister
- shall conduct an investigation in respect of the
application if the Minister determines that there may be a
reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely
occurred; or
- shall not conduct an investigation if the
Minister
- is satisfied that there is a reasonable
basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred and
that there is an urgent need for a decision to be made under
paragraph 696.3(3)(a) of the Code for humanitarian reasons or to avoid a blatant
continued prejudice to the applicant, or
- is satisfied that there is no reasonable
basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely
occurred.
(2) The Minister shall send a notice to the
applicant and to the person acting on the applicant's behalf, if
any, indicating whether or not an investigation will be conducted
under subsection (1).
(3) If the Minister does not conduct an
investigation for the reason described in subparagraph
(1)(b)(ii), the
notice under subsection (2) shall indicate that the applicant may
provide further information in support of the application within
one year after the date on which the notice was sent.
(4) If the applicant fails, within the period
prescribed in subsection (3), to provide further information, the
Minister shall inform the applicant in writing that no
investigation will be conducted.
(5) If further information in support of the
application is provided after the period prescribed in
subsection (3) has expired, the Minister shall conduct a new
preliminary assessment of the application under section
3.
- (1) After
completing an investigation under paragraph 4(1)(a), the Minister shall prepare an
investigation report and provide a copy of it to the applicant and
to the person acting on the applicant's behalf, if any. The
Minister shall indicate in writing that the applicant may provide
further information in support of the application within one year
after the date on which the investigation report is
sent.
(2) If the applicant fails, within the period
prescribed in subsection (1), to provide any further information,
or if the applicant indicates in writing that no further
information will be provided in support of the application, the
Minister may proceed to make a decision under subsection 696.3(3)
of the Code.
- The Minister
shall provide a copy of the Minister's decision made under
subsection 696.3(3) of the Code to the applicant and to the person
acting on the applicant's behalf, if any.
Annual Report
- An annual report
submitted under section 696.5 of the Code shall contain the
following information in respect of the financial year under review
in the report:
- the number of applications made to the
Minister;
- the number of applications that have been abandoned or
that are incomplete;
- the number of applications that are at the preliminary
assessment stage;
- the number of applications that are at the investigation
stage;
- the number of decisions that the Minister has made under
subsection 696.3(3) of the Code; and
- any other information that the Minister considers
appropriate.
Coming into Force
- These
Regulations come into force on the day on which section 71 of
the Criminal Law Amendment Act,
2001, chapter 13 of the Statutes of Canada,
2002, comes into
force.
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