How Should Canada Base Their Criminal Law

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INTRO Canada and the US both base their criminal law on British common law. However, while the US allows individual states to enact their own criminal law, Canada maintains a single Criminal Code that is consistent and applies to all provinces and territories. This raises the question of whether Canada should follow the United States lead and enable each province to adopt its own criminal legislation. In this paper, I'll discuss the pros and cons of implementing a comparable system in Canada. PRO #1 One benefit of letting the provinces draft their own criminal laws is that it would make it easier for the local governments to prioritize and respond to their needs. Canada is known for being a vastly diverse country, with each province having …show more content…

cities top [of] list[s] of the country's highest crime rates”. The government could choose to implement more progressive laws focused on reducing the crime rate, decriminalizing drugs, or even banning the use of drugs in public areas. In contrast, a different province, like Newfoundland and Labrador, may focus more on enacting more serious penalties for property crime or theft as Newfoundland and Labrador property crime rates increase, and they would be able to create laws that reflect those problems. This approach of allowing each province and territory to make criminal laws that are tailored to the province's needs would make the justice system much more effective and responsive. Having provincial laws could also improve public trust and cooperation with law enforcement, as the laws are more closely aligned with local …show more content…

Allowing provinces to have the flexibility to change their laws or create new ones could lead to a more dynamic and responsive criminal justice system, which is better equipped to handle different challenges. CON #2 Allowing the provinces to set their own laws could lead to significant inequalities across the country. If provinces are allowed to create their own criminal laws, there will be a huge disparity in how justice is being administered. Some provinces may choose to make more lenient laws, while other provinces may choose to administer harsher penalties for similar crimes, which leads to unequal treatment of citizens based on where they

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