Why Canada's justice system is seriously flawed

[blackbird]

Under Liberal governments and Supreme Court rulings, Canada has become a breeding ground for criminals who claim mental illness.  Of course if one is addicted to drugs, that can further strengthen their argument that they were not responsible for the stabbings and other assaults they committed against innocent citizens.

quote

Canadian courts have long had the power, in prescribed circumstances, to exempt an individual from criminal responsibility for actions performed while he or she was incapacitated by a mental disorder. That power rests on “the basic principle of Canadian criminal law that to be convicted of a crime, the state must prove not only a wrongful act, but also a guilty mind.”(1) Consequently, Canada’s Criminal Code has always provided that persons will not be held criminally liable for their actions if their mental state at the time rendered them “incapable of appreciating” the nature and quality of the act and knowing that it was wrong.  unquote

Mental Disorder and Canadian Criminal Law (PRB 99-22E)

Allowing people to escape the consequences of their criminal behavior on the basis of mental disorder is a major flaw and a denial of justice for innocent Canadians who were victims of crime.  The Liberals have adopted this ideology and steadfastly cling to it.  It is impossible to change liberal ideology.  To Liberals this is their god.  The only way this can be changed is to vote them out of power and put people in power who understand that law and order and the protection of society must always come first.

The central issue in Canadian law is this.  "“the basic principle of Canadian criminal law that to be convicted of a crime, the state must prove not only a wrongful act, but also a guilty mind.”

It is one thing to prove that someone committed a crime.  But if the prosecution must prove that the suspect had a guilty mind, that introduces a huge hurdle.  How does the prosecution prove someone appreciated the nature of the act or knew it was wrong?  That is the problem.  All the defence has to do is make the argument that the accused did not know or appreciate the nature of their crime.   It makes it far more difficult to prove someone is guilty of a crime and it gives an out for the accused.  It is called Not Criminally Responsible or NCR.  This seriously undermines the whole justice system in Canada.

Edited Friday at 11:39 PM by blackbird

[Moonbox]

Personally I agree with most of what you're saying here.  I'm very much not on-board with how our Justice system has evolved over the last 30 years, and the seeming emphasis on the rights of the criminals over those of the community. 

[herbie]

The failure lies in not providing alternative and support services.
If you don't like lunatics on the streets, provide the places for them. Likewise for addicts, for petty crimes, etc. What is stupid is going down the road of making more things crime laws and thinking that will make less criminals. That locking more people up or for longer will do dick shit.

If you say the word "addict" to most conservative people, "criminal" is the first thing that pops into their mind. They've had almost a century to learn "drunkard" and "alcoholic" to disassociate those addicts from the same word.

And you want to promote a leader stuck with both of those ideas?
Sorry, plenty of us don't trust him not to re-criminalize weed FFS!