S-236An Act to amend the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and to establish a framework for implementing the rights of victims of crime

What it does

• Changes several information rights so victims would get certain information without having to ask for it, instead of only on request.
• Adds a right to access legal, social, medical and psychological services that fit a victim’s needs and circumstances.
• Adds a right to reparations, including access to restorative justice programs and to have the court consider a restitution order.
• Adds a right for victims who get restitution orders to get help entering and enforcing those orders.
• States that the Act cannot be applied to take away victims’ rights to access to justice and procedural fairness in the criminal justice system.
• Requires the Minister of Justice to develop victim-rights training, create an implementation framework, table a report in Parliament, and publish it online.