This morning (Wednesday 18 May) Bill C-40, the Miscarriage of Justice Act known as David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law; came into force. It makes drastic change to the Criminal Code and creates a new tribunal or commission to address all claims of wrongful conviction. It eliminates our present Ministerial Review process that has for more than 100 years been the only resort for the wrongly convicted.
Tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m., Minister Arif Virani and Susan Milgaard, David’s sister, will be holding a press conference at the Innocence Canada’s offices at 106 Front Street East, Suite 301, in Toronto. James Lockyer of Innocence Canada will also be in attendance.
The press conference will explain and celebrate this important legislation which is wonderful news for the wrongly convicted. Innocence Canada have been advocating for the creation of a new commission for 31 years and we are delighted that Minister Virani and his predecessor, David Lametti, guided this legislation through Parliament.
It’s a bittersweet day for Susan Milgaard. Her brother and her mother, who fought so hard for this law, are no longer with us. But Susan is delighted that the law is named after David and Joyce.
Susan Milgaard said today:
“My mother and my brother will be looking down on us and celebrating this new law. I am very grateful it is named after them. They did so much to get this law passed because they were dedicated to the cause of all the innocent people in prison who had no good place to seek justice. Now they will have a place to go.”
James Lockyer said:
“Today is a great day for all those wrongly convicted. Innocence Canada has been advocating for this law for more than 30 years. It will bring Canada in line with other countries that already have a similar commission and be a sea change for the wrongly convicted and the Canadian criminal justice system.”
Members of the media are asked to contact the Department of Justice’s Media Relations at media@justice.gc.ca to receive event location details and confirm their attendance. Media representatives are asked to arrive 15 minutes before the start of the press conference.
For further information, please contact:
James Lockyer at 416-613-0416 or jwilockyer@yahoo.ca
STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com
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