Legal rights and literacy.

Do you really know your rights?

Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms, 1982,
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/annex_e.html#I

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms
Rights and freedoms in Canada

1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

Is literacy a right?

U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 26.
“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”
A beautiful animated and musical version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is available at http://www.humanrightsactioncenter.org/

What is legal literacy?

Legal literacy means having the special literacy skills needed to understand legal language, concepts, and processes to be able to access rights in the justice system.

Charter of Rights - Legal Rights

Life, liberty and security of person
Secure against unreasonable search or seizure
No arbitrary detention or imprisonment
Rights upon arrest or detention
Rights during proceedings in criminal and penal matters

To be informed and able to act

A person involved with criminal justice must decide what to do at many points in the process. One of the main barriers they face is police jargon and legal language.
They are confronted with a mass of information that they must
1. understand
2. recall
3. act on in a timely way.


The need to communicate effectively


The Charter of Rights Section 10(b) requires communication of the right, not a rote repetition of it according to the courts. So police may have to show the court that a person
• received the needed information about Charter rights.
• showed an understanding of those rights at the time

When there is a sign that the accused does not understand the right to counsel, the police cannot rely on a mechanical recitation of the right to the accused. They must make reasonable efforts to make the right meaningful to the accused. The Charter of Rights Section 10(b) requires communication of the right, not a rote repetition of it.

• Unless they are clearly and fully informed of their rights at the outset, detainees cannot be expected to make informed choices and decisions about whether or not to contact counsel and, in turn, whether to exercise other rights, such as their right to silence.

• In order for an accused person to be informed of his rights, it is necessary that the accused be capable of understanding and appreciating the substance of the right to counsel and truly appreciating the consequences of giving up that right.

• The right of an accused to understand carries with it the obligation on police to ensure rights are understood by taking steps to facilitate communication.

• Providing reading material in a second language is not sufficient effort without any evidence whether the accused is literate in that language.

Low literacy and its impact on crime

Neighbourhoods with lower literacy rates have higher crime rates. And people who commit crimes are more likely to have lower levels of literacy. So are victims of crime. Witnesses with low literacy face many challenges when they are asked to provide statements or testify in court.


How is Canada’s prison population affected


• Almost 7 out of 10 prisoners in Canadian jails before 1996 had low literacy skills.

• Prison literacy programs raise a person’s self-esteem along with their literacy skills. The have reversed the literacy rates in prison in the past 15 years.

• The positive outcomes of literacy training include getting the skills needed for steady employment and reducing the chance that someone will re-offend. Improved literacy skills lower the likelihood of a return to prison.


In 1995, the Correctional Service of Canada reported that newly admitted offenders had an average education level of Grade 7, and that “70% of newly admitted offenders tested below a Grade 8 level in language and math” while 86% tested below Grade 10. (A Grade 9 education is considered a commonly accepted cut-off point for identifying adults with limited literacy. )


More tomorrow on literacy in general...

Footnotes

Supreme Court of Canada R. v. Evans [1991] 1 S.C.R. 869
Supreme Court of Canada R. v. Hebert, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 151
R. v. McAvena [1987] S.J. No. 166; [1987] 4 W.W.R. 15; 55 Sask.R. 161; 34 C.C.C. (3d) 461; 56 C.R. (3d) 303; 34 C.R.R. 130; 49 M.V.R. 243; 1 W.C.B. (2d) 354 (Sask. C.A.)
R. v. Michaud [1986] O.J. No. 1631; 45 M.V.R. 243 (Ont. Dist. Ct.)
Italy v. Seifert [2003] B.C.J. No. 471 2003 BCSC 351; 13 B.C.L.R. (4th) 356 [2003] B.C.T.C. 351 (BCSC)
R. v. Ly [1993] O.J. No. 268; 18 W.C.B. (2d) 581 (Ont. Ct. J.)
Long-term Care Facilities in Ontario: The Advocate's Manual (2nd edition). Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, 2001