Canadian Criminal Justice Association

Last updated

The Canadian Criminal Justice Association (CCJA) is a national, voluntary organization founded in 1919, dedicated to improving Canada's justice system. Its office is in Ottawa. [1]

Contents

According to the organization's statement of purpose: "Recognizing that the criminal justice system must serve the needs of all people, the Canadian Criminal Justice Association is an umbrella organization representing all elements of the criminal justice system, including the public. It exists to promote rational, informed, and responsible debate in order to develop a more humane, equitable, and effective justice system." [1]

It works at the national level, in partnership with affiliates in nine of the Canadian provinces. [2]

History

Achievements

The association has long served an advisory role to the federal government, submitting numerous briefs on proposed legislation. Its submissions have been influential in the drafting of major pieces of criminal legislation in Canada, including the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Canadian Criminal Code . [3] [4]

The association's executive secretary, Bill McGrath, was appointed to the Ouimet Committee in 1964, [3] which showed a strong relationship between the association and the federal government. The committee's findings were highly influential, and led to significant changes in Canadian justice policy, such as the abolition of corporal punishment in prisons, [5] and the creation of the "dangerous offender" designation in the Criminal Code. [6] Members of the association had previously contributed to the Archambault Commission, another justice-reform body created in 1936, with some of those recommendations also being reflected in subsequent legislation.

The association played a leading role in the creation of the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa in 1967. [3] Association member Tadeusz Grygier served as the department's first chairperson, and an undergraduate scholarship now exists in his name. [7]

Name changes

The CCJA was founded in 1919, as the Canadian Prisoners' Welfare Association. In 1936 it changed its name to the Canadian Penal Association, a move which was "largely the outcome of the great interest aroused in penal affairs following the penitentiary riots of the early thirties," according to association secretary John Kidman. [3]

In 1956, when the Canadian Penal Association merged with the Canadian Welfare Association Division on Crime & Delinquency. The resulting organization, named the Canadian Corrections Association, remained a division of the Canadian Welfare Association. [3]

In 1970, the organization was reconstituted again, as the Canadian Criminology and Corrections Association, reflecting the expansion of criminology as a discipline in Canadian universities. [8] The name change came with a new structure: It now had a board of directors and a more distant relationship with the Canadian Welfare Association (it became an "affiliated organization" rather than a division). [3]

The association became fully independent in 1977, rebranding itself the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Crime. However, that name would change again seven years later, when in 1984 it became the Canadian Criminal Justice Association. [3]

Publications and events

The CCJA publishes the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, a quarterly, peer-reviewed academic journal produced in association with the University of Toronto Press. [9] The journal was first published in 1958.

The CCJA also produces the Justice Report, a quarterly magazine of "matters related to the administration of justice in Canada." [10] The Justice Report began life as the association's newsletter and has been in publication, under various names, since 1948. [3]

The Canadian Congress on Criminal Justice is organized every two years by the CCJA. The first event was held in 1929 in Toronto, [3] with the most recent, 36th edition, held again in Toronto. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison abolition movement</span> Movement to end incarceration as a means to address harm

The prison abolition movement is a network of groups and activists that seek to reduce or eliminate prisons and the prison system, and replace them with systems of rehabilitation that do not place a focus on punishment and government institutionalization. The prison abolitionist movement is distinct from conventional prison reform, which is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminist school of criminology</span> School of criminology

The feminist school of criminology is a school of criminology developed in the late 1960s and into the 1970s as a reaction to the general disregard and discrimination of women in the traditional study of crime. It is the view of the feminist school of criminology that a majority of criminological theories were developed through studies on male subjects and focused on male criminality, and that criminologists often would "add women and stir" rather than develop separate theories on female criminality.

David M. Paciocco is a justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Toronto, Ontario. Paciocco has authored several books on criminal law and is considered one of Canada's foremost experts on the law of evidence.

The Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice is one of sixteen colleges comprising the Florida State University (FSU). The College is the oldest program of its kind. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.

Manitoba Justice, or the Department of Justice, is the provincial government department responsible for administering the Crown Law justice systems in the province of Manitoba.

Michael Weinrath is Professor and the founding Chair of Criminal Justice and Interdisciplinary Criminology at the University of Winnipeg. Weinrath is relatively unique among criminologists for he is a former practitioner with Alberta Correctional Services in institutional and community corrections. Weinrath brings an experiential component to his work in criminology. Weinrath is a noted expert in penal populism, tazermetrics, and other modern technologies of correctional practice such as panopticism and actuarial risk management of dangerous populations.

David Garland is Arthur T. Vanderbilt Professor of Law and professor of sociology at New York University, and an honorary professor in Criminology at Edinburgh Law School. He is well known for his historical and sociological studies of penal institutions, for his work on the welfare state, and for his contributions to criminology, social theory, and the study of social control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Martin (British Columbia politician)</span> Canadian politician and professor

John Martin is a Canadian politician and a professor of criminology, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of Chilliwack as a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Ian Ross</span>

Jeffrey Ian Ross is a scholar, professor, and criminologist specializing in the fields of policing, corrections, political crime, violence, street culture, graffiti and street art, and crime and justice in American Indian communities. Since 1998 Ross has been a professor at the University of Baltimore. He is a former co-chair and chair of the Division of Critical Criminology and Social Justice of the American Society of Criminology. Ross is an author, co-author, editor, and co-editor of numerous books.

The Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) is the national association for the social work profession in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmanuella Lambropoulos</span> Canadian politician (born 1990)

Emmanuella Lambropoulos is a Canadian politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saint-Laurent since 2017. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, she was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election, succeeding Stéphane Dion.

William Thomas McGrath (1918–1999) was the longest-serving executive director of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association from 1951 to 1982.

The Special Committee on Corrections was a committee appointed by the Canadian Minister of Justice Guy Favreau in 1964 “to study the broad field of corrections, in its widest sense and to recommend … what changes, if any, should be made in the law and practice relating to these matters.” The Committee was named after its chairman, Quebec Superior Court Justice Roger Ouimet.

Frank P. Miller was a major figure in criminal-justice reform in Canada who helped create the modern parole system. He served as executive director of the National Parole Service, president of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, and was a founding member of the Parole Board of Canada. He was also the first classification officer in the Canadian penitentiary system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in Norway</span> Overview of incarceration in Norway

Norway's criminal justice system focuses on the principles of restorative justice and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's laws forbid the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment as punishment. Prison conditions typically meet international standards, and the government permits visits by human rights observers. The system is considered to be transparent, and prisoners are represented by an ombudsman, an official appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against public authority.

Madam Justice Renu Mandhane is a Canadian jurist and lawyer who was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Brampton) on May 22, 2020.

Prisoners' Justice Day is a solidarity movement that takes place annually on August 10. The movement began in Canada in 1974 in support of prisoners’ rights and to remember all the people who have died of unnatural deaths while incarcerated. The first Prisoners' Justice Day was held at the Millhaven Institution on August 10, 1975, on the first anniversary of Edward Nolan's death. In addition to a day of mourning, six prisoners took part in an eighteen-day hunger strike. In 1976, August 10 was recognized as a memorial day where prisoners would strike in opposition to the use of solitary confinement and to protest inmate conditions within the Prison System by going on a one-day hunger strike and refusing to work.

Criminal sentencing in Canada is governed by the Canadian Criminal Code. The Criminal Code, along with the Supreme Court of Canada, have distinguished the treatment of Indigenous individuals within the Canadian Criminal Sentencing Regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Justice (organization)</span> Canadian animal law organization

Animal Justice is a Canadian nonprofit organization with three main areas of focus: lobbying for stronger animal protection laws, improved enforcement of those laws, and fighting for animals in court.

References

  1. 1 2 "About the CCJA." https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/about-ccja/ Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Retrieved on Sept. 12, 2017.
  2. "Provincial Associations." https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/about-ccja/affiliates-partners/ Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Yeager, Mathew. (1994). The First 75 Years: A History of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, 1919-1994. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Retrieved from http://www.bccja.com/images/CCJA_HISTORY-ENG.doc on Sept. 7, 2017.
  4. "Briefs and articles." https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/category/briefs-articles/ Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2017.
  5. "50 Years of Human Rights Developments in Federal Corrections." http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/rht-drt/05-eng.shtml Correction Service Canada. Retrieved on Sept. 7, 2017.
  6. "Dangerous Offender designation." https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crrctns/protctn-gnst-hgh-rsk-ffndrs/dngrs-ffndr-dsgntn-en.aspx?wbdisable=false Public Safety Canada. Retrieved Sept. 7, 2017.
  7. "uOttawa Scholarships and Bursaries: Tadeusz Grygier Founder's Prize." https://scholarships.uottawa.ca/p/a/18862/ University of Ottawa. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2017.
  8. Jim Hackler (March 4, 2015). "Criminology". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  9. "UTP Journals::Browse by Journals::Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice." https://www.utpjournals.com/Canadian-Journal-of-Criminology-and-Criminal-Justice.html. University of Toronto Press. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2017.
  10. Canadian Criminal Justice Association. (2017). Justice Report | Actualités Justice 32(2), p. 2.
  11. "Congress 2017." http://www.youthandjusticecongress.ca Archived 2018-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Canadian Criminal Justice Association and Criminal Justice Association of Ontario. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2017.