The Growing Problem of Overcrowding in Prisons and Pre-trial Custody in Canada - Affordable Defence

1. The Growing Problem of Overcrowding in Prisons and Pre-trial Custody in Canada http://affordabledefence.com/

2. On behalf of Edelson Clifford D'Angelo Friedman LLP posted in Criminal Defense on July 22, 2016. It is no secret the Canadian prisons are overcrowded. In fact, some prisons, such as the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, had been using shower stalls to hold inmates due to lack of space. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that every person should be free from having their life, liberty and security (of person) infringed upon (s. 7), that every person has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty (s. 11(d)), and that no one should be denied reasonable bail without justice cause (s. 11(e)).[1] The Criminal Code also states that there is an initial presumption that a justice should order the accused to be released unless the Crown can prove that detention is warranted.[2] Yet despite these rights and presumptions, research has shown that half of the prison population is made up of innocent accused remanded to pre-trial custody.[3] http://affordabledefence.com/

3. Pre-trial custody has a substantial impact on both the accused person and the outcome of a trial. This has been recognised by the Supreme Court of Canada in a number of cases (such as R. v. Hall and R. v. Summers). Accused in pre-trial custody are isolated from their friends and family, yet these inmates do not get access to the same benefits that offenders who have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment get. For example, inmates in pre-trial custody do not get access to rehabilitative programs, nor do they have the ability to have the time they have served in prison count towards parole eligibility, if they were to be convicted. Pre-trial custody also prevents accused persons from working, making it difficult for them to fund their legal defence. [4]  This means that those who were denied bail will spend more time in prison then those who were not.[5] Additionally, the Court acknowledged that accused who were remanded into custody were more likely to plead guilty or be convicted. http://affordabledefence.com/

4. In addition to overcrowding, a lack of skills training programs, and unsafe conditions, there have been recent reports of inmates dying while in prison. So far in 2016, three inmates in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre have been reported dead. Most notably, in April of this year, Yousef Mohammed Hussein, an inmate who had been awaiting trial for the past two years, hung himself with his bedsheets from the solitary confinement cell that he was in. Mr. Hussein’s trial date was set for three years after his arrest. Imagine that, spending three years in jail in a system where you are presumed to be innocent. This is a reality that many accused people in our justice system have to face, and if they are found not guilty, they are unable to get back the time that they spent in jail awaiting trial. http://affordabledefence.com/

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