Seeing Justice Done: Increasing Indigenous Representation on Canadian Juries
Abstract
The underrepresentation of Indigenous people on Canadian juries threatens public confidence in the criminal justice system, particularly in cases involving Indigenous accused or defendants. Despite being the subject of many high-profile legal cases, inquiries, and reports, the problem endures today, and meaningful reform has been elusive. This paper considers the ways in which Indigenous people are excluded at each of the three stages of the juror selection process. It critiques the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on the issue in the 2015 case of R v Kokopenace and concludes with several recommendations including that citizens be allowed to volunteer for jury duty in order to remedy the race-based disparity in representation on juries.
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