Gladue report template

The Gladue Worker will write a Gladue report detailing the unique life circumstances of an Aboriginal person charged with a criminal offence, who is applying for bail OR who has pled guilty or been found guilty of a criminal offence and is being sentenced. The Gladue report will link the life story of an Aboriginal offender to the broader issues facing Aboriginal people, e. The Gladue report will provide detailed recommendations for the judge to consider in terms of sentencing.

The Gladue Worker will assess the availability of a Gladue report upon request where an Aboriginal offender resides in a NAN criminal court jurisdiction. Our government is very pleased to see the progress that has been made with the Gladue Report Writing Pilot Project, and we look forward to the Council of Yukon First Nations expanding the project across the territory. The goal of Gladue reports is to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous persons involved in the criminal justice system.

The reports also include information on possible sentencing alternatives. Prior to the launch of this pilot project Yukon did not have a formal Gladue report writing program, resulting in Gladue reports being provided to the court in an ad hoc and inconsistent manner. In Yukon, four Gladue reports have been written so far in the fiscal year —20, 16 were written in —19 and 23 in — The Council of Yukon First Nations has provided yearly training sessions for new Gladue writers since and will continue to provide the training on a yearly basis.

Matthew Cameron Cabinet Communications matthew. Fiona Azizaj Communications, Justice fiona. While there is no empirical research in Canada yet on the effects of this transfer of discretionary power, in the United States, mandatory minimums have had disproportionately adverse effects on racialized minorities Parkes Gladue and Ipeelee acknowledge both the blatant and systemic discrimination faced by Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.

Due to the disproportionate impact that mandatory minimum sentences will have on Indigenous people, Parkes sees potential s. Rudin similarly sees the potential for s. The implementation of Gladue principles require additional resources at every step of the sentencing process, as additional obligations are required of judges, defense counsel, prosecutors, correctional officials, as well as community organizations.

The lack of resources — both in the preparation of pre-sentence information, and in the availability of alternatives to incarceration — is a crucial impediment to remedying over incarceration. Gladue requires sentencing judges to consider systemic and background factors of the offender, and the types of sentencing procedures and sanctions that are appropriate in the circumstances.

In the aftermath of Gladue , some authors were uncertain about who fell under s. Gladue factors must be considered for all self-identified Indigenous people — regardless of whether they have status, live on- or off-reserve — unless the individual waives the right to have such factors considered Parkes et al.

It is undoubtedly challenging for judges to determine the relevant background factors in sentencing, especially as the experiences of Indigenous offenders are diverse and dynamic in an ever-changing society. The provision of pre-sentence information is such a key determinant of the effectiveness of Gladue that Rudin considers it a reason that s.

In some jurisdictions, GladueReports are written with the specific purpose of providing information relevant to s. In Manitoba, a few private agencies prepare Gladue Reports, at the request of and with funding from Legal Aid. In Saskatchewan, there was a pilot project involving assistance from British Columbia in providing training for writing Gladue Reports. By the completion of the two year pilot project, 25 Gladue Reports had been written.

A final phase of the pilot project is still underway; capturing oral histories from Elders is underway by the University of Saskatchewan. The University intends to maintain this database of oral histories, and make it available free of charge to those tasked with preparing Gladue Reports. Prince Edward Island similarly is in the process of instituting a pilot program.

The remaining provinces and territories have no organized and funded Gladue Report-writing program, or no Gladue Reports at all. It is important to note that even where the service is available, the accessibility of Gladue Reports is subject to the availability of resources, varies greatly amongst these jurisdictions, and is far from widespread implementation.

Specialized Gladue Courts spend significantly more time on each case than other courts in the same city Knazan At the Gladue Court at Old City Hall in Toronto, due to the additional time and resources needed, Gladue Reports are only made when Crown is seeking a sentence of at least 90 days for an out-of-custody client or 6 months for an in-custody client Aboriginal Legal Services Toronto. Cuts to legal aid from onwards has placed significant constraints on the ability of the Legal Services Society to authorize GladueReports for Indigenous offenders, which are now only funded by legal aid in limited circumstances Barnett and Sundhu In jurisdictions without Gladue reporting programs, no independent information will be submitted by the defence on behalf of the accused.

Without specific training and awareness for the unique background circumstances of Indigenous offenders, inadequately prepared information can actually undermine Gladue principles and perpetuate systemic discrimination Parkes Defence counsel, probation officers, and parole officers do not always have the cultural competency or training to elicit a complete picture of the circumstances of the offender Rudin ; Rudin In some jurisdictions, probation officers are entitled to a set number of hours to prepare Gladueinformation Rudin ; Rudin This is an issue especially because Indigenous individuals may be reluctant to relate their experiences to court personnel, given the distrust that characterizes the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the justice system Turpel-Lafond Furthermore, Parkes argues that adding Gladue factors to pre-sentence reports is ineffective because the latter has a fundamentally different purpose.

Parkes explains that R v Knott illustrates how inadequate Gladue information can actually undermine efforts to reduce over incarceration. In writing the decision to order a suspended sentence for an Indigenous man convicted of aggravated assault, Justice McCawley addressed the inadequacy of the pre-sentence report that was prepared.

Justice McCawley noted that although Mr. The report also concluded that Knott was at a high risk to reoffend, but Justice McCawley found the assessment to be erroneous because the factors considered were not put into context:. For example, Mr. Knott's lack of a history of employment to a large extent can be explained by his taking on the care of his grandparents who raised him and, to all intents and purposes, were his parents As R v Knott demonstrates, when Gladue factors are added to pre-sentence reports, but not contextualized in the experience of Indigenous communities, they are actually seen as risk factors justifying incarceration.

Thus, although Gladue information must always be requested where the liberty of an Indigenous accused is at stake, such requests are inconsistent and reports may be written improperly, which may actually undermine Gladue principles Pfefferle Judges are challenged to create new sentencing options and to adapt existing measures such as counselling, community service, fines, treatment and monitoring programs to the reality of Indigenous offenders.

However, the lack of culturally appropriate sentencing processes and alternatives to incarceration undoubtedly affects the effective implementation of Gladue principles Welsh and Ogloff ; Haslip ; Parkes et al.

Roach and Rudin note, for example, that in R v Wells , the offender was sentenced to imprisonment instead of a conditional sentence in part because of the lack of anti-sexual assault programming in his immediate community. This issue is particularly acute for individuals living in urban areas who may have little or no connection to an Indigenous community Pfefferle Without adequate resourcing of alternatives to imprisonment, even the implementation of thorough Gladue Reports across Canada would likely have little effect in reducing overrepresentation Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada As section 4 will explain further, a number of Gladue Courts have been set up, notably in Ontario and in British Columbia.

Where Gladue Courts do not exist, an Indigenous accused would go through the traditional sentencing process, the result of which may be a conditional sentence.

He argues that to truly adhere to Gladue principles requires more than just referring the individual to Indigenous programming, where it is available. Rather, it. Considering the diversity of Indigenous communities and experiences of Indigenous offenders, a multitude of programs and initiatives will need to be established as no one model of Indigenous justice will uniformly apply to all. It is also important that resources are distributed holistically, across programs at all steps of the criminal justice process p.

In return, successful implementation of Gladue will diminish resources spent on incarceration Roach and Rudin Prior to Gladue , the Alberta Court of Appeal had expressed the view that s.

Such a view, of course, assumes that incarcerating the offender will be safest for victims, when in reality, short and recurrent prison sentences have done little to ensure the safety of the victim and of the community Roach and Rudin There is nonetheless concern that making Indigenous identity a determining factor in sentencing will mean that Indigenous communities, which already suffer from higher than average crime rates, will receive less protection from the law Gevikoglu As R v Morris demonstrates, this concern is more pronounced and complex for victims of gender-based violence and domestic abuse.

While he was assessed by a psychologist as being at low risk for violent offence generally, he was considered at high risk for future spousal violence.

At trial, his sentencing had been adjourned for 4 months in order to give the community time to formulate submissions. The community held a talking circle with elders, members of the community, the victim, the accused, and their families.

A summary of the talking circle submitted to the judge recommended healing and counselling over incarceration. The letter expressed fear that as Mr. The BC Court of Appeal overturned the suspended sentence. Not only is the severity of an offence aggravated when it is committed against a spouse para 59 , Mr. And though he was identified as an Indigenous offender, the trial court did not properly assess systemic and background factors that brought Mr.

Morris to court. Morris was sentenced to 12 months of incarceration with two years of probation. The sentence given to Mr. Of course, as the BC Court of Appeal decision explained, s. As well, a correct application of restorative justice approaches promoted by Gladue will take into account the needs of the offender, the victim, and the community. Finally, Gladue may only be successful when communities are able to establish initiatives and programs that effectively deal with issues of poverty, substance abuse, family breakdown, the effects of residential schools and other systemic causes of crime Turpel-Lafond As Gladue and Ipeelee have explained, s.

Its purpose is to remedy Indigenous over incarceration, and it aims to do so through utilizing a different method of analysis in sentencing that pays special attention to the background and systemic factors of Indigenous offenders, and the types of sentencing procedures and sanctions that are culturally appropriate.

While the causes of over incarceration are multiple and complex, a root cause is undoubtedly the cumulative effects of colonialism and its ongoing legacy.