Jury make-up troubling issue – StarPhoenix
Despite a ruling this week by the Supreme Court that the lack of aboriginal representation on a jury that convicted a First Nations man of manslaughter didn’t violate his constitutional rights, this issue will continue to bedevil Canada’s justice system.
“There’s no question that an accused is entitled, under the Charter, to a representative jury,” Justice Michael Moldaver observed in writing for the majority in the 5-2 decision.
However, he noted as a mitigating factor that the Ontario government had made some effort to compile a representative jury roll of 175 people, of whom eight were on-reserve residents, but none of those eight were selected to try Clifford Kokopenace. The accused isn’t entitled to a jury that includes members of his own race, but only a “fair and honest” process of random jury selection, according to the court.
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