Wrongly Imprisoned, Released as a Pauper: Canada’s Ineffective Approach to Innocence Compensation and Avenues for Reform

Abstract

Canada’s innocence compensation framework is inadequate and unjust. To secure compensation for the myriad harms caused to them by miscarriages of justice, the wrongfully convicted in Canada can either rely on civil suits adjudicated on standards deferential to state actors and with remote prospects of recovery, or must subject themselves to entirely discretionary assessments of ex gratia payments by the executive. In this paper, I provide an overview of why this status quo is undesirable. I then examine other jurisdictions’ innovative approaches to innocence compensation, grounded in a distinction between ‘statutory schedule’ and ‘adjudicated rights’ frameworks. I conclude by setting out the advantages and disadvantages of each approach with a view to informing Canadian lawmakers should they be interested in reform.