NCJ Number
137723
Date Published
1991
Length
233 pages
Annotation
This annual report of the Law Reform Commission of Canada for 1990-91 highlights the Commission's first 20 years and reviews legislative achievements, publications, ongoing work, and cooperation with other institutions.
Abstract
The Commission was created by the Law Reform Commission Act in 1971 as a permanent and independent body to review on a continuing basis all the Federal laws of Canada and to make recommendations for their improvement, modernization, and reform. It is mandated by Parliament to develop new approaches to the law that are in keeping with and responsive to the changing needs of modern Canadian society and to reflect in its recommendations the distinctive concepts and institutions of the common law and civil law legal systems in Canada. Legislative achievements of the past fiscal year have included the preparation of a framework document entitled "Toward a New General Part for the Criminal Code of Canada" to assist a subcommittee of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General in their consideration of the General Part of the Criminal Code. In the area of publications, the Commission composed Report 33, "Recodifying Criminal Procedure." Based on years of study and consultation, this report is the first step of a process that will see the production of a new code of criminal procedure for Canada. Ongoing work includes a comprehensive study of criminal justice issues as they relate to Aboriginal and multicultural peoples in Canada. A report to Parliament on the current refugee process is in preparation following an empirical study and extensive consultations. The Commission has also presented its findings on the legal aspects of medically assisted procreation to the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies. Appendixes include Commission recommendations for 1990-91, along with various working papers and articles produced by the Commission.