The CCRC as an Option for Canada: Forwards or Backwards?

It may appear to strike a discordant note in a book about ‘critical perspectives’ even to posit that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) could perform as any kind of role model. However, the CCRC has long vaunted its attractiveness as an original and effective device. Though no longer unique, following the establishment of the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission (NCCRC) (NCCRC, 2008), it has attracted interest from jurisdictions as diverse as Holland and Japan (CCRC, 2006a). As might be expected, common law jurisdictions have also cast curious glances. In particular, Canadian interest has been expressed on several occasions, most recently through the work of the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology under Justice Stephen T. Goudge in Ontario, which has embarked upon a systemic examination of the lessons to be learnt from other jurisdictions (Goudge, 2007).