Victim Rights in Canada:  Reaching for International Standards

Where: Ottawa, Ontario
When: April 13- April 13, 2011

As part of National Victims of Crime Awareness Week 2011 (NVCAW), the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences and the Institute for the Prevention of Crime are organizing a symposium entitled Victim Rights in Canada:  Reaching for International Standards.  The event  takes place in the Desmarais Building,  on the University of Ottawa’s downtown campus, Wednesday, April 13, from 9:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Participation is open to people working in the field,  in national victim organizations and the law enforcement and criminal justice community, as well as in agencies that provide services to victims of crime or who advocate for their rights.   If you are interested in joining us, please contact Simon Yared as soon as possible at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 613-562-5798. Please let us know if you are interested in a particular roundtable.  As registration is limited, we will confirm if space is still available both for the symposium in general and the roundtable you’re interested in.

 Symposium

The Faculty of Social Sciences and the Institute for the Prevention of Crime are joining with the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime and the International Organization for Victim Assistance to present this NVCAW highlight event, which is partially funded through a grant from Justice Canada.

The symposium’s main objective is to identify practical ways to advance rights and services for victims of crime in Canada by contrasting progress–mainly for crime victims in Ontario–with international standards and best practices.  The international practices will be based primarily on Professor Irvin Waller’s most recent book, Rights for Victims of Crime:  Rebalancing Justice (see www.irvinwaller.org).

The Institute for the Prevention of Crime is developing a short backgrounder for the symposium that contrasts the current state of services and rights for victims of crime in Ontario and Canada with those available in other leading jurisdictions outside Canada. This backgrounder will be available in due course to symposium participants.

Event agenda

On-site registration  begins at 9:15 a.m.

• The symposium starts at 10 a.m. with opening remarks by various keynote speakers (10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.) and is open to the media
• After a short break, three concurrent round table sessions for participants only will take place (between 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.).  Each roundtable will focus on one of the following  issues:

1. Improving law enforcement agencies’ response and strengthening support services.
2. Fostering reparation for victims through wider use of restitution by the offender, compensation, restorative justice and civil procedures. 
3. Ensuring victims are better represented and heard, and finding a comprehensive approach to rebalancing justice in Canada.  

• The aim of the roundtable sessions is to encourage discussion among participants while identifying three key steps to advance rights and services for victims of crime in Canada.
• Each roundtable will be facilitated by a moderator and three invited discussants. A rapporteur compiling these recommendations will report back to the symposium at 1:00 pm (following a break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. during which a free light lunch and refreshments will be served).
• The final part of the symposium, from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., is an occasion for moderators and rapporteurs to report back on their findings to the larger group and for Dr. Irvin Waller and other guests to deliver concluding remarks.