With the exception of a word or two – and one section that really doesn’t seem to belong – the government’s reference document “The Purpose and Principles of Criminal Law – 1982” has held up “remarkably well over 35 years,” says the CBA’s National Criminal Justice Section.
Responding to an invitation to comment on the Justice Canada document, the Section writes that it “reflects a policy orientation in keeping with principles that have continually guided the CBA Section’s law reform efforts.”
That said, a few things could be tweaked in order to improve it: the word in paragraph (h) should be “clearly” instead of “dearly;” the word “offenders” in paragraph (e) should be changed to “individuals” or something similar, so that it doesn’t sound like everyone arrested, detained or under investigation is guilty of a crime.
Paragraph (g) should use gender-neutral language and be expanded to include concepts recognized since 1982 – special status of Indigenous people; the mitigating effect of mental illness and cognitive impairment – and to recognize deterrence and denunciation of criminal conduct.
And then there’s paragraph (k), which goes beyond the subject matter of the document.
Otherwise, the CBA has no problem supporting the document, and is happy to have been given the chance to comment on it.