Statistical Information

Section 696.5 of the Criminal Code specifies that the Minister of Justice must submit an annual report to Parliament on the various conviction-review procedures that have taken place in the previous fiscal year. The report must include the number of applications made to the Minister, the number of applications that have been abandoned or that are incomplete, the number of applications at the preliminary assessment stage and at the investigative stage, and the number of decisions the Minister has made under subsection 696.3 (3).

Application requests

The time frame covered by this report is from November 25, 2002 to March 31, 2003. However, since the criminal conviction-review process has been in place in one form or another for a number of years, the statistical analysis includes applications from before the reporting period where appropriate.

Table 1 outlines the number of applications that the Minister received during this reporting period, and the results of the initial reviews. Of the eleven applications received, three were deemed to be complete and placed on the preliminary assessment list. Six were deemed to be incomplete, and the applicants were so advised. Of the two applications that were screened out, one involved a civil matter and the other dealt with a previous application that had been denied. In both cases, the applicant was advised accordingly.

Preliminary Assessments and Investigations

When the new amendments were enacted on November 25, 2002, a number of applications were in the various stages of the review process. The following tables outline where these applications stood at that time, as well as their progress within the reporting period.

As Table 2 indicates, on November 25, 2002, there were a total of 18 applications that were complete and waiting for the preliminary assessment to commence; 6 completed applications were in abeyance at the applicants' request; and 16 preliminary assessments were under way.

Within the reporting period, five new preliminary assessments were started, one application was abandoned by the applicant, and seven preliminary assessments were completed. Of the seven that were completed, two were determined to merit investigation, while five were deemed to have no basis
for further review.

Table 3 indicates that 16 applications were being investigated when the reporting period began. Three applications were awaiting investigation, while another three were in abeyance at the applicants' request.

During the reporting period, two investigations were completed, another two commenced, and one application was abandoned by the applicant.

Ministerial Decisions

During the reporting period of this first annual report (November 25, 2002-March 31, 2003), the Minister rendered one decision. In 1992, Mr. Steven Kaminski had been convicted of sexual assault of a woman and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. After the original trial and subsequent appeal by Mr. Kaminski, new evidence surfaced that prompted his request for a review and subsequent investigation by the CCRG. Based on the CCRG's investigation, it was determined that the new evidence could have had an impact on the outcome of the original trial had it been known and submitted at the time. As a result, the Minister ordered a new trial.

Table 5 illustrates the total number of open files within the CCRG on March 31, 2003. The 17 pending applications represent incomplete applications where an applicant has requested a review but has not forwarded all the necessary documentation. The 56 active applications represent the number of preliminary assessments that are under way and completed files awaiting a preliminary assessment, as well as the number of applications that are at the investigation stage or awaiting investigation.

Previous | Table of Contents | Next