Essay Example on Canadian criminal justice system was designed to protect the rights and Freedoms









The Canadian criminal justice system was designed to protect the rights and freedoms of the innocent while incarcerating those who are guilty of crimes within society However the innocent are sometimes the victim of the justice system which is made to protect them This essay will examine the topic of wrongful convictions within Canada and how professionals in the criminal justice field like police forensic analysts and prosecutors should all be held responsible for their allegations of wrongful convictions There are several factors that lead to wrongful convictions due to the factor of false confession eyewitness account and policing conduct False confessions are one of the leading cause of wrongful convictions For instance criminal suspects may falsely confess for a lot of reason there are times when accused deliberately confess to crimes they did not do due to pressure or trickery by police interrogators or a guilty plea which is one of the main reason that leads to false confession Guilty pleas tend to happen when the innocent accusers might feel that either way they will be found guilty so people like the police attorneys and prosecutors manipulate them or make a deal with them stating that if they take the guilty plea they could have a lesser sentence 

For example 19 years old Anthony Hanemaayer was arrested for a crime he did not commit after being arrested the crown offered him a deal that would have ensured that he would get less jail time in exchange for a guilty plea Anthony knew he was innocent so he had refused the deal at first his lawyer informed him that if he was to be found guilty at trial then he would be given 6 10 years in jail he should take the crowns deal and would be given less than a two years sentence On the day of his trial Anthony then agrees to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit he was then sentenced to two years less one day of imprisonment Anthony was later acquitted due to new evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator The judge stated that the fresh evidence proves beyond doubt that Anthony did not commit the offenses to which he pleaded guilty The police nor the attorney told Anthony or attempted to clarify their mistake AIDWYC had contacted Anthony an informed him about the actual perpetrator confession This whole incident was extremely unfortunate that faults upon the justice system that led to the miscarriage of justice and the mortify effect it had on Anthony and his family Anthony s miscarriage of justice had many causes the most important which was the huge confidence on the victim mother s eyewitness testimony Many people place confidence in the fact that eyewitness testimony is conclusive but the witness can make mistake with identifying a person Within this case eyewitness testimony and guilty plea are the leading cause of this wrongful conviction the fact that the police nor the attorney who are professionals of the justice system did not try to clear their mistake and should be blamed for their wrongful allegation and this reflects on the justice system 

Each time there is a miscarriage of justice it shows different types of failures within the justice system which have deprived it of operating effectively or fairly and not performing their duties correctly In todays Canadian society it is confident that criminal law is there to protect and serve and that its main purpose is to prevent crimes and to punish the guilty However there have been cases where the criminal law has to punish the accuser who turned out to be innocent based on eyewitness accounts which is one of the direct evidence of a crime that can be very important in catching the perpetrator However it can cause an error from inaccurate eyewitness and police tunnel vision In many cases police officers will arrest an individual who fits a certain profile that they know will end up leading to an arrest and conviction In the case of Guy Paul Morin it shows how the system failed in helping the innocent person who tolerates the law The law was constituted to protect the rights and freedom of those who are innocent Morin faced burden from society giving him false witness account and especially from the criminal justice system not carrying out their duties correctly In Canada the leading cause of wrongful conviction is the factor of an eyewitness account A person mind is not like recording tapes because everyone can not absolutely accurately remember the characterization of what another or thing look like When courts look at eyewitness accounts they consider them a great factor to catch the perpetrator because they believe that the eyewitness to know what exactly happened at the crime scene and to give the exact description of the person knowing that the witness could change their description of the person at any time For example going back to the Guy Paul

Morin case the witness account played a major role in the conviction of Guy the eyewitness falsely testified against Guy because he did not like Guy also the officers had poor communication between them which was an unfortunate part of the case leading to suppression or improper transmission of important information also false accusation was made by the police officers and crown attorneys Which goes to show how poor the policing conduct is and how it led to an innocent man getting convicted Moreover the way the police conduct their investigation can lead to a misconduct which the reflects badly on the justice system and how it is falling each time a person is being wrongfully convicted due to the professionals that work within the justice field

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