Bail reform a ‘significant step’ but not enough, B.C. critics say | 24CA News
Stiffer new Canadian bail situations are a “significant step” in the direction of bettering public security, however extra work is required say some B.C. police, girls’s advocates and municipal leaders.
Amendments to the Criminal Code underneath Bill C-48 are actually in impact, which require sure accused criminals to show why they need to be granted bail, reasonably than the reverse on the a part of prosecutors.
The modifications broaden instances coated by the “reverse onus” to cowl extra firearms and weapons offences, and extra circumstances the place an individual is accused of intimate accomplice violence.
“It’s going to make it much more difficult for a certain class of offenders to achieve bail, but it is not going to apply to every bail hearing, and I think that’s important to emphasize here,” Vancouver prison lawyer Sarah Leamon defined.
“Those are people who are accused of having committed serious, violent offences, often involving the use of a weapon or involving intimate partner relationships. It’s not going to apply to, say, the prolific shoplifter for example.”
Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Howard Chow says it’s a “step in the right direction” in the direction of protecting violent offenders off the road by bringing the accused’s prison historical past into play.
Chow stated he believes the transfer would “dramatically improve” public security by protecting some accused offenders behind bars,.
“We think there should be more work done on lower level crimes, crimes that do impact public safety, but overall in terms of the urgency with which legislative changes took place, we are very pleased with that,” he stated.
Chow pointed to stranger assaults and violent shoplifting — two offences which have made repeated headlines in Vancouver — as lessons of offences he’d prefer to see included in bail concerns.
Angela Marie MacDougal, government director of Battered Women’s Support Services, stated she was happy to see intimate accomplice violence acknowledged within the new bail measures.
But in the end, she stated, the change will have an effect on solely a fraction of such instances.
“We know that most cases of intimate partner violence are never reported to the police, so never have the opportunity to (go to) the criminal legal system,” MacDougall stated.
“This reform will actually impact a very, very small portion of victims and offenders.”
MacDougall stated that if the province is severe about lowering charges of accomplice violence, it must look exterior the prison authorized system, and prioritize each funding and repair provision for prevention and victims.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, whose metropolis has seen public security develop into a serious scorching button challenge, additionally welcomed the modifications.
He argued, nonetheless, the province must go additional than the federal authorities and implement safe, involuntary look after offenders coping with dependancy, mind damage, psychological well being points and trauma.
“They really aren’t criminal cases — they are committing criminal acts that are frightening to the public, but what they really need is long-term care and treatment, that’s the only real long-term solution to some of the very chronic offenders,” he argued.
“Others, frankly, need stiff jail sentences. There’s a point at which society has a right to say if you are going to continue to commit crimes, even of a minor nature, that you are going to spend more time in jail.”
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma, who advocated for the federal modifications, stated the brand new measures will give judges one other instrument to maintain violent offenders off the road.
“It’s not the only tool our system has in terms of judges weighing the impact to the community or the risk of that offender causing harm before decisions are made whether they will be detained or not,” she stated.
Sharma stated reforms will complement provincial initiatives geared toward public security, together with extra funding for police and psychological well being companies, together with B.C.’s Repeat Violent Offender initiative rolled out final 12 months.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
