RIS ID
5286
Abstract
This article analyses the criteria and guidelines that have been developed for the operation of circle sentencing as a method of First Nation community participation in the Canadian criminal justice system. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether circle sentencing has the potential to transfer decision-making authority over sentencing from judges within the non-Aboriginal justice system to sentencing circle participants and First Nation communities. This article concludes that although it operates under certain judicially imposed constraints, and without a solid legislative foundation, circle sentencing does have the potential to shift the locus of decision-making authority in a manner which is consistent with the aspiration of many First Nation communities for greater autonomy in the administration of justice.
Publication Details
This article was originally published as McNamara, L, The Locus of Decision-Making Authority in Circle Sentencing: The Significance of Criteria and Guidelines, Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 18, 2000, 60-114. Original journal available here.