The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights gives victims the right to convey their views about decisions to be made by criminal justice professionals which affect their rights at various stages of the criminal justice system and have their views considered, and to present a victim impact statement for consideration.
Amendments to the Criminal Code:
- require judges to include in the record of bail proceedings that they have taken into consideration victim safety and security in their decision;
- add the acknowledgement of harm done to victims and the community to the sentencing objectives;
- allow victims to use a testimonial aid in court when they present victim impact statements;
- allow victims to bring a photo of the victim during their presentation of a victim impact statement in court; and
- provide for a standard Victim Impact Statement and Community Impact Statement form at sentencing to ensure consistency in how victims indicate the physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic loss suffered. Another optional victim impact statement form can be used by Review Boards to guide their decision making in the case of an accused found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
Changes to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) that came into force on July 23, 2015, include allowing registered victims to designate a representative to receive information on their behalf and allowing victims to waive their right to receive information from the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada.
Other amendments to the CCRA, such as permitting victims who are unable to attend a parole hearing to listen to an audio recording of the hearing, will come into force on a day or days to be fixed by Order in Council.
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July 2015
Department of Justice Canada
