Laws 3306 – Crime, Law, Process and Politics
Paper Requirements:
As part of this course, you will be responsible for submitting a paper based on the tasks/requirements below. The paper will be worth 35% of your total mark for the course.
NB – Any form of plagiarism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with in accordance with Department Policy.
Step 1:
Your first step is to select one specific Act (Bill) that amended criminal-related legislation. This can include amendments to the Criminal Code, Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Youth Criminal Justice Act and/or the Canada Evidence Act.
You can select any Bill that has been given Royal Assent between 2000 and 2021.
Step 2:
You will then need to consider (research) the following:
1. What, if anything, led to the amendment of that specific legislation? Was there an event that precipitated the amendments? What was the justification that parliament gave for necessitating these changes?
2. Was there opposition to these amendments? Opposition can come from Parliament itself along with external groups/organizations/individuals. What were the main points of opposition to the amendments?
3. What specific changes were made by way of these amendments? Did they change offences, evidence, procedure and or sentencing? How did they change them? Did they favour one specific actor within the justice system over others? What was the intention of the specific amendments?
4. What were the consequences of these amendments? Did we see different rates of offences/prosecutions/convictions? What about incarceration rates? Any further critiques arise after the amendments went into force?
Step 3:
You will be required to submit a typed, double-spaced paper based on the information you gathered above.
REQUIRED OUTLINE:
1. Introduction: Identify your specific Act (Bill) and identify the significant changes it caused to the criminal law, evidence and/or procedure. (look at Step 2 point 3)
2. Reason/Intention: What was the justification for the amendments? What did the government want to accomplish by amending the law? (look at Step 2 point 1)
3. Target/Effect: Who was the “beneficiary” of these changes? In other words, what specific individuals/groups did the change assist? Was there a specific individual/group that suffered negatively from the change? (Look at Step 2 point 3)
4. Opposition: Was there any opposition to these amendments? Identify the main points of critics of the amendments? What was their position/concern? (look at Step 2 point 2)
5. Conclusion: Provide an overall assessment about the effect of the amendment on the criminal justice system in Canada and whether the law it amended will remain as-is for the foreseeable future or whether it will evolve or change entirely (look at Step 2 point 4)
Specific Formatting Requirements:
– Minimum of 6 pages and maximum of 12
– Double spaced
– 12 point Times New Roman font
– 1-inch borders
References:
– Internet citations must include the site and date of downloading.
– Cite but do not quote from the specific Acts.
– Use footnotes and a bibliography
– Also see The Department of Law “Legal Style Sheet for Term Papers.”
– Use Canadian spelling for Canadian sources
– When discussing US or International sources, always identify them as such
DUE BEFORE:
You will need to submit your paper via Brightspace by the deadline.
Late assignments will lose 15% for each day
NO EXCEPTIONS!!