Impact on Canada
Importance
The Donald Marshall, Jr. case was not only important because of the set of ordeals Marshall had to go through in order to prove his innocence, but also the realization that the Canadian criminal justice system was broken and needed to be fixed. Over the years, the case drew massive attention from not only the general public, but also groups against the reinstatement of capital punishment, native communities and prison reform groups. Since Marshall's conviction was based solely on false evidence and racism, it revealed a criminal justice system that was bias and extremely dangerous to minorities living in Canadian society. This case made the citizens in Canada not trust the way our legal system was being administered and forced the people who were in charge of the laws we follow make changes so that we would never put away an innocent person.
The effects of this case today
In1990, the Royal Commission produced 82 recommendations in its inquiry on the case of Donald Marshall, Jr. and these recommendations fundamentally changed the criminal justice system in Nova Scotia and Canada.
Dealing with the Wrongfully Convicted
The inquiry first recommended that an independent review mechanism should be established in order to deal with allegations of wrongful convictions. This mechanism would be independent and publicized so that everyone in society would know where to go if they were the ones wrongfully convicted or if they had any information regarding a wrongful conviction. This mechanism, in order to be effective, would also have access to all relevant information and be able to interview all witnesses. As a direct result of this recommendation, the non-profit organization " The Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted" was founded in 1993. Another recommendation about how to deal with the wrongfully convicted was that a judicial inquiry be established to consider any claim for compensation. There should also be no limit to compensation and the wrongfully convicted should not have to pay any legal fees.
Visible Minorities and the Criminal Justice System
Since racism played a huge part in the wrongful conviction of Donald Marshall, Jr. the inquiry made some suggestions in order to make sure that the Canadian justice system was not influenced by the colour of a person's skin. In order to improve the criminal justice system for minorities a "Policy on Race Relations" was adopted so that the inequalities based solely on race were eliminated. The Cabinet Committee on Race Relations was also established in order for the representatives of different minority groups to get together and put their input into criminal justice matters. Specifically in Nova Scotia, in order to encourage minorities to follow a legal career path, the inquiry suggested that the Nova Scotian government help the Dalhousie Law school financially with the creation of a special minority admissions program. Finally, the inquiry also suggested that the government of Canada appoint qualified visible minority judges and administrators wherever possible.
Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq's and the Criminal Justice System
In order to help improve the relationship between Mi'kmaqs and the criminal justice system, there were several recommendations made by the inquiry, but some of them were not taken up. Some interesting recommendations included the establishment of a criminal court specifically for Natives and also a Native Justice Institute was suggested in order to incorporate traditional Native customary law into criminal law and civil law. One recommendation that was considered was the immediate hiring of Native people in the RCMP and municipal police forces.
Administration of Criminal Justice
Before the Donald Marshall ,Jr. case there were many allegations that the Nova Scotian criminal justice system treated people differently based on their race and position in society. For example, there was one case where a politician agreed with 4 Canadian banks that he was going to settle his debt by paying only $0.25 for every dollar he owed. The RCMP were called to investigate this issue, but found no wrong doing and the politician did not face any charges. With this information, the inquiry recommended that there should be a Director of Prosecution for every region in Nova Scotia and that all police officers be reminded about their legal duty.
Evidence Disclosure Rules
Another very important result of the Donald Marshall ,Jr. case was the change in the evidence disclosure rules. Since this case the prosecution is now responsible for fully disclosing to the defense any evidence it has. The defense must also make sure that full disclosure from the prosecution takes place, and must fully disclose its own evidence only in establishing alibis.
Police and Policing
Since there was obvious evidence of lack of professionalism among the police during the whole Donald Marshall, Jr. case, the inquiry suggested many ways to help improve the police force and how they perform their jobs. Firstly, they suggested that there should be an examination of the organization of the police forces in Nova Scotia. There should also be more sophisticated training for every police officer who is looking to be promoted to supervisory positions and the recruitment of visible minorities to the police force.