Introduction

On November 25, 2002, amendments to the provisions of the Criminal Code that set out the powers of the Minister of Justice to review convictions where there is reason to suspect a miscarriage of justice came into force. Among the amendments, which replaced the former section 690 with the new sections 696.1-696.6 in Part XXI.1 of the Criminal Code, was a requirement that the Minister "shall within six months after the end of each financial year submit an annual report to Parliament in relation to applications under this Part." This is the first such annual report.

The Minister's power to review convictions, a reflection of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, has been a part of Canada's justice system since the original Criminal Code of 1892. Calls for reform from legal scholars and other stakeholders have led to various changes, culminating in the 2002 amendments and the new Regulations Respecting Applications for Ministerial Review - Miscarriages of Justice.

As this is the first annual report, it begins with a brief overview of the nature of the remedy and its historical development in Canadian law. The report then describes the various steps in the current process and provides information on the numbers and status of applications. (Some current cases, of course, were commenced before the new amendments came into effect.) In addition, the Department's Criminal Conviction Review Group has recently published a thorough new guide to the application process, and this is included as an appendix to this report, along with the relevant passages of the Criminal Code and the Regulations.

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