Reform handling of IPV and sexual assault
Petitioners ask Canada to reform responses to intimate-partner and sexual violence: mandate conflict disclosure and reassignment; reform mandatory charging to avoid criminalizing victims; require judicial oversight for non‑conviction resolutions; allow victim impact statements; establish oversight.
Why we would sign this petition
- Mandated disclosure and reassignment can reduce investigator bias and protect victims from compromised investigations.
- Reforming mandatory charging and restricting non‑conviction resolutions without judicial oversight would lower risks of victims being criminalized or of cases being settled without accountability.
- Allowing victim impact statements in all cases and creating oversight bodies would strengthen survivor voice and external accountability for investigative failures.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Reforming mandatory charging and banning some non‑conviction resolutions could limit prosecutorial discretion and make case management more difficult.
- Creating independent oversight bodies and new disclosure requirements would require funding and administrative capacity, adding cost and complexity.
- Broad procedural changes may have unintended consequences, such as reducing negotiated resolutions that some survivors prefer or complicating investigations.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada The current application of mandatory charging policies fails to prevent inappropriate counter charges from being laid against victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence; Under current law, victims are only permitted to submit victim impact statements at sentencing when the accused has pled guilty or been found guilty; Existing conflict of interest mechanisms fail to mandate immediate disclosure or reassignment, leaving victims vulnerable to systemic bias and compromised investigations; and Currently sexual assault charges can be improperly resolved through peace bonds or non-conviction resolutions. We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to reform the judicial and investigative systems handling intimate partner violence and sexual assault to address investigative failures, eliminate practices that retraumatize victims, strengthen accountability, and ensure decisions are based on evidence, fairness, and survivor safety by: 1. Implementing strict conflict of interest rules requiring investigating officers to disclose any personal or professional relationship with either the accused or the victim, with mandatory reassignment where a conflict;exists. 2. Reforming mandatory charging policies to prevent survivors from being criminalized when the accused attempts to counter charge the victim; 3. Ensuring sexual assault charges cannot be resolved through peace bonds, diversion agreements, or other non-conviction resolutions without judicial oversight and clear public-interest justification; 4. Removing barriers to victim impact statements by allowing survivors to provide statements regardless of the final judicial outcome; and 5. Creating independent civilian oversight bodies to review investigative failures, wrongful counter charges, mishandled cases, and systemic bias within police and prosecutorial systems.
Government response
No government response is available yet.