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As recognized throughout the text so far, very few of us have any real contact with the criminal justice system. Most of the information that we receive about Canadian criminal justice comes from the media and tends to be distorted. As a result, our opinions about the criminal justice system develop from highly publicized cases (some of which are from the US), which can lead to inaccurate information about Canadian criminal justice. Rarely are our ideas about crime and justice—especially the courts—based on research and evidence-based practices. We must work to improve the public’s knowledge about crime and justice in order to develop an informed debate over crime and crime control policies.
The chapter introduces the key players in the courtroom and outlined the criminal justice process. How justice is meted out in Canadian courtrooms depends on the courtroom workgroups, the culture of each court, and where the court is physically located (e.g., operations in urban courts are quite different from those in rural courts). When it comes to relatively minor cases, punishment/crime control is implemented and cases tend to be streamlined. As punishment becomes more severe, court proceedings become more adversarial and due process protections tend to increase for the accused. Although this assembly-line approach to dispensing justice is not a serious limitation (as cases are processed quickly), a growing number of Canadians are either appearing in court without representation or not receiving legal aid. This can all cause errors to occurring during the legal processand may lead us to believe that for minor cases, we have a rough equivalent of justice in our traditional court systems.
One of the major limitations of traditional courts is the questionable and inefficient use of resources to simply send those with special needs (mental illness, addictions, and ongoing behavioural issues) through a revolving door of incarceration and release. A growing number of specialized courts have developed to provide specialized services that take into account the distinctive needs of offenders. The efficacy of these courts still needs to be evaluated and tested (although they tend to be less expensive than imprisonment).