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Articles by Kent Roach
A new constitutional remedy: the declaration plus
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Financial Crimes Agency in Bill C-29: a Small Start in Modernizing Federal Policing
Bill C-29, introduced by the Carney government in April 2026, could improve Canada’s oft-criticized approach to economic crime because it recognizes the need for a specialized workforce assisted by prosecutors to conduct strategic prosecutions with national and transnational implications. If poorly implemented, however, the bill could further fragment Canada’s decentralized approach to policing.
What Three Killings Reveal about the RCMP’s Rural Policing Crisis
Ten years ago, on August 9, 2016, Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man, was killed by Gerald Stanley, a white farmer, in rural Saskatchewan. It was a case that revealed a great deal about contract policing by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in rural Canada. The all-white jury acquitted Stanley of both murder and manslaughter after the defence argued that the “Stanleys were on their own” and did not have the urban luxury of fast 911 responses.
Kent Roach | The Walrus
Few officers on the ground, long response times—it’s the same story again and again
Opinion: DNA evidence is a double-edged sword
Print Email Read Later Jon-Adrian (JJ) Velazquez, a New York man who spent half his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, recently sued New York City and its police for US$100 million for his wrongful murder conviction. Velazquez may be known by film buffs for his role in the Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing. Read this article for free: Email Address: Password: I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Already have an account?
DNA evidence: A double-edged sword that can actually deny justice for some wrongfully accused
By Kent Roach, Professor of Law, University of Toronto Jon-Adrian (JJ) Velazquez, a New York man who spent half his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, recently sued New York City and its police for US$100 million for his wrongful murder conviction. Velazquez may be known by film buffs for his role in the Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing.
DNA evidence: A double-edged sword that can actually deny justice for some wrongfully accused Original
Jon-Adrian (JJ) Velazquez, a New York man who spent half his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, recently sued New York City and its police for US$100 million for his wrongful murder conviction. Velazquez may be known by film buffs for his role in the Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing.
The fly-in court shooting in Wapekeka should draw our attention to two urgent issues
The recent fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old First Nations man in Wapekeka First Nation is being portrayed as an urgent issue of courtroom security. What we know is that police shot a man who was allegedly holding a knife. Tyresse Kenny Padro Cree Roundsky was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation into the incident is ongoing and should reveal more about what happened that day. It’s important that we do find out more, and that we understand the broader context.
Codification, confusion and crisis: police-government relations when responding to February 2022 protests in Ottawa and Wellington
ABSTRACT This article examines whether the codification of police government relations makes a difference in a crisis. Drawing on detailed official reports about similar protests and occupations of capitals in Ottawa, Canada and Wellington, New Zealand in February 2022, it concludes that codification did not make an appreciable difference to either governmental or police conduct.
Aaron Wudrick, David Livingstone, and David Tabachnick: Our universities are in crisis. That's bad news for democracy
Commentary 01 May 24 Our institutions of higher education are once again front and centre in the news as increasingly illiberal “Freedom Palestine” protests roil campuses across North America. These events, however, are merely the latest expression of deeper compounding problems. Our universities are in serious trouble—and that’s bad news for our society overall. It is worth examining how we got here. In much of Canada, the post-secondary sector faces a grim financial crisis.
Canada's wrongful conviction problem isn't getting the attention it deserves
As part of a paid partnership, this month The Hub will feature excerpts from this year’s five shortlisted books for the Donner Prize, awarded to the best public policy book in Canada. Our podcast Hub Dialogues will also feature interviews with the authors. The winning title will be awarded $60,000 by The Donner Canadian Foundation on May 8th. The following is an excerpt from Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes and What Canada Must Do To Safeguard Justice (Simon and Schuster, 2023).
THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED DESERVE ACQUITTALS NOT PROSECUTORIAL STAYS
Abstract Between 2006 to 2008, no less than three public inquiries recommended that, absent a reasonable likelihood of re-prosecution, prosecutors should allow the wrongfully convicted to be acquitted and not be subject to prosecutorial stays. Prosecutorial stays are an exercise of prosecutorial discretion under. 579 of the Criminal Code that can only be challenged with evidence of flagrant impropriety. They do not provide protection against double jeopardy.
The Ipperwash Inquiry - Symposium on Government/Police Relations: The Overview: Four Models of Police-Government Relationships
This chapter provides an introduction to police-governmental relations in Canada. It does so by outlining the law and history of police-government relations in Canada, constructing four different models of police-governmental relations and identifying critical issues that distinguish different approaches to police independence.
Canada is failing the wrongfully convicted, again
Those who have suffered miscarriages of justice have waited too long for half-measures. Unfortunately, a government bill before Parliament does just that. Seven public inquiries since 1989 recommended a permanent and independent commission patterned after one in England to investigate refer suspected miscarriages of justice back to the courts. In 2021, the federal government asked us to conduct consultations and make recommendations on the design of such a commission. Already a Subscriber?
Munk School students weigh in on the top contenders for the 2022 Donner Prize
Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change by Kent Roach, read by Ayesha Ali In Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change, Kent Roach argues for Canadian policing reform. He suggests that integrating other services, like mental health, and allowing communities to self-police by redistributing duties among them, can assist in reducing over-policing and under-protection of vulnerable communities.
It may be time for Canadians to start electing police and crime commissioners
The Hub is proud to be partnering with the Donner Prize, which will be announced on May 18. We’ll be running excerpts from the shortlisted books all week and you can also listen to Hub Dialogues episodes with all the nominees. Click here to view the shortlist and get caught up on Canada’s best public policy books.
Kent Roach: The wrongfully convicted deserve acquittals, not prosecutorial holds Original
Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Opinion: An acquittal is not enough to do justice to the wrongfully convicted, but it is a necessary first step Article content Imagine that you have been wrongfully convicted. Everyone, except (if you are lucky) your closest friends and family think you are guilty. Advertisement 2 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
They pled guilty — but were wrongfully convicted. Canada’s courts continue to have a blind spot Original
Beyond the infamous cases, Canada has a major problem with wrongful convictions, argues Kent Roach. The co-founder of the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions and an author University of Toronto law professor lays out solutions in “Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice.” In this excerpt he looks at convictions where the accused has entered a false guilty plea.
Substantive, Procedural and Remedial Equality" by Kent Roach
Abstract Drawing on his factums in many constitutional cases, this article suggests that Joe was an early and consistent champion for substantive, procedural and remedial equality. The first part examines Joe’s commitment to substantive equality including his arguments for British Columbia in Andrews v. Law Society of British Columbia, his forward-looking approach to Indigenous rights and his commitment to authentic public law litigation that respected the disadvantaged.
The RCMP needs comprehensive reform
The RCMP is in the news again and, as usual, the news is not good. There are ongoing controversies over whether there was political interference or pressure placed on the force to release information about the type of gun used in the 2020 Nova Scotia massacre, as well as proposals for British Columbia and Alberta to create their own police services to replace the RCMP.  Regardless of how the Nova Scotia scandal plays out, it is additional evidence that the RCMP must be fundamentally changed.
"Freedom Convoy" Occupation Highlights Canada's Security Challenges
Canada has not been the dull paragon of “peace, order, and good government” it is widely known for ever since a “Freedom Convoy” rolled into Ottawa and paralyzed the capital city on Jan. 27. The protest against pandemic restrictions spread to border blockages at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, shutting down auto plants on both sides of the border that rely on just-in-time cross-border delivery.
Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Committee Must Get Back to Work
The effort to ensure that Parliament can exercise its authority to hold the government to account on vital national security and intelligence issues is of long standing. Recent efforts began with an all-party report issued in 2005 and were kept alive by private members bills in 2013 and 2014, and a combined Liberal and Conservative motion that emerged from the Senate in 2015, spearheaded by Hugh Segal, Romeo Dallaire and Grant Mitchell.
Security and Human Rights: Both Are Pillars of Democracy
The debates about whether Canada did too much or too little to respond to the 1970 October Crisis, the 1985 Air India bombings or the 9/11 terrorist attacks were tough enough. But such questions about national security approaches are about to get harder still. That’s because today’s debates must consider not only what states are doing but also corporations, including social media companies.
Ensuring Democracy while Protecting Canadian National Security
Ensuring Democracy while Protecting Canadian National Security Reimagining a Canadian National Security Strategy Report No. 1 October 4, 2021 Download PDF
A Panel in Memory of Joseph J. Arvay, OC, QC | 24th Annual Constitutional Cases Conference
Title A Panel in Memory of Joseph J.
Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the George Floyd murder case could spell the end of police immunity
The police killing of George Floyd in the United States begs for effective remedies that respond both to past harms while also preventing future harm. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of three counts in the killing of Floyd after he kneeled on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes as he pleaded for his life in May 2020.
Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts could spell the end of police immunity
The police killing of George Floyd begs for effective remedies that respond both to past harms while also preventing future harm. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of three counts in the killing of Floyd after he kneeled on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes as he pleaded for his life in May 2020.
Gerald Stanley Case
On 9 February 2018, Gerald Stanley, a white farmer in rural Saskatchewan, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter in the killing of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man. The acquittal caused great controversy but was not appealed by prosecutors. However, it led the Justin Trudeau government to abolish peremptory challenges, which allowed Stanley’s legal team to keep five Indigenous people off the all-white jury that acquitted him.
Juries, Miscarriages of Justice and the Bill C-75 Reforms
Kent Roach University of Toronto Keywords: Gerald Stanley, Colten Boushie, jury, jury selection, racial bias, Indigenous, Bill C-75, peremptory challenge, mixed juries, challenge for cause, stand aside, substantive equality Abstract Gerald Stanley’s use of five peremptory challenges to exclude all visibly Indigenous people from the jury that acquitted him of murder and manslaughter in the killing of a 22-year-old Cree man, Colten Boushie, was not the only flaw in jury selection that requires...
Pandemics and the Civil Liberties Dog that Barked Softly
The lack of a central framework of laws makes political debate about whether the law goes too far or not far enough difficult. It is a basic element of the rule of law that the law should be accessible to all. The law should not have retroactive effect. In the case of Alberta, its main response was retroactive in the sense that it attempted to legalize state actions that were taken before the law was enacted. A related element is that it should be possible to obey the law.
Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice
Putting Gerald Stanley's acquittal for killing Colten Boushie in the context of Canada's colonial and systemic discrimination against Indigenous peoples. In August 2016 Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on a Saskatchewan farm by white farmer Gerald Stanley. In a trial that bitterly divided Canadians, Stanley was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter by a jury in Battleford with no visible Indigenous representation.
Terrorist Speech under Bills C-51 and C-59 and the Othman Hamdan Case: The Continued Incoherence of Canada’s Approach
Welcome to the Alberta Law Review The Alberta Law Review (ALR) is a student-run publication whose primary purpose is to enhance discourse on Canadian legal issues. Founded in 1955, the ALR is published by the Alberta Law Review Society, an organization consisting of law students at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Built upon the hard work of student editors at both law faculties, the ALR is published every quarter and has roughly 1,000 pages per volume.
University of Toronto Law Journal
Volume: 61, Issue: 1, pp. 1-36 Volume: 58, Issue: 3, pp. 275-315 Volume: 62, Issue: 3, pp. 293-336
Public Interest Litigation in Canada
30-day risk-free examination Secure checkout Multiple copy discounts A text presenting an overview of theories and strategies for public interest litigation, and the various avenues and methodologies that have been used in Canadian history. Plus, case comments and studies included.
Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case
by Kent Roach Settler or Indigenous, it’s impossible to approach Kent Roach’s Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case without baggage. As an Indigenous person, this might include still-fresh traumas – including the injury of being written about, in this case without informing or seeking consent from Colten Boushie’s family or communities.
Supreme Court Law Review, 2nd Series, Volume 90
30-day risk-free examination Secure checkout Multiple copy discounts This volume is a collection of papers presenting an overview of theories and strategies for public interest litigation, a specialized area of litigation aimed to bring about social impact, and the various avenues and methodologies that have been used in Canadian history.
Colten Boushie, Gerald Stanley and a case that’s hard to defend
Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man , was fatally shot by white farmer Gerald Stanley on Aug. 9, 2016, on Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask. Stanley’s acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges last Feb. 9 was heavily criticized by some Canadians, including the prime minister.
Jury reform will be contentious and limited after the Stanley trial
Decisions by juries earlier this year to acquit in the Stanley and Khill trials have placed jury reform on the political agenda, but obstacles abound. Jury reform has been on the Canadian political and legal community’s agenda since February, when a jury in Battleford, Sask., acquitted a farmer named Gerald Stanley of killing Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man.
Opinion: How America and Canada are diverging on the sad legacy of torture
Incoming Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel stands for the national anthem during her swearing-in ceremony at CIA Headquarters, Monday, May 21, 2018, in Langley, Va. Evan Vucci / AP Canada recently apologized and gave $10 million to a Canadian tortured by Americans. Meanwhile, the United States just promoted someone who oversaw torture to the post of CIA director.The political contrast between the Canadian and American approaches is jarring.
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