About
• Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
• Courts Administration Service
• Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada
• Public Prosecution Service of Canada
In particular, the Committee may review proposed amendments to federal legislation relating to certain aspects of criminal law, family law, human rights law, and the administration of justice, notably with respect to the following statutes:
• Courts Administration Service Act
The Committee may also undertake studies on subjects related to its mandate, either as referred to it by the House of Commons or on its own initiative. In the course of a study, the Committee holds public meetings, considers evidence from witnesses, and reviews written submissions and other authoritative documents. At the conclusion of a study, the Committee usually reports its findings and makes recommendations. The Committee may request a government response within 120 days.
Detailed information on the role and powers of House of Commons committees can be found in the Compendium of House of Commons Procedure and in Chapter XIII of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons.
On September 30, 1997, the House of Commons changed the Committee’s name to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to signal that the Committee was taking on part of the mandate of the former Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of Disabled Persons.
In February 2004, the House of Commons again changed the Committee’s name to the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. This change was due to the reorganization and renaming of the Solicitor General portfolio, including responsibility for the newly created Canada Border Services Agency. In April 2006, the House of Commons again changed the Committee’s name to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, at the same time establishing the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to take on the balance of the former mandate.In the execution of its functions, each committee is normally assisted by a committee clerk, a committee assistant, and one or more analysts. Occasional assistance is also provided by legislative clerks and lawyers from the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. These individuals are non-partisan and serve all members of the committee and representatives of all parties equally.
Committee Clerk
The clerk performs their duties and responsibilities under the direction of the committee and its Chair. As an expert in the rules of the House of Commons, the clerk may be requested to give advice to the Chair and members of the committee should a question of procedure arise. The clerk is the coordinator, organizer and liaison officer for the committee, and as such, is in frequent contact with Members’ staff. The clerk is also responsible for inviting witnesses and dealing with all the details regarding their appearance before the committee.
Committee Assistant
The committee assistant provides a wide range of specialized administrative services for the organization of committee meetings and the publishing of documents on the committee’s website. The committee assistant works with the clerk to meet the needs of the committee.
Committee Analyst
The Library of Parliament’s analysts, who are subject-matter experts, provide authoritative, substantive, and timely research, analysis and information to all members of the committee. They are part of the committee’s institutional memory and are a unique resource for parliamentarians. Supported by research librarians, the analysts work individually or in multidisciplinary teams.
Analysts can prepare briefing notes on the subjects being examined, detailed study plans, lists of proposed witnesses, analyses of an issue with a list of suggested questions, background papers, draft reports, news releases, and formal correspondence.
OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE AS REQUIRED
Parliamentary Counsel
Within the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, parliamentary counsel (Legislation) are available to assist Members who are not in Cabinet with the preparation of private Members’ bills or of amendments to government bills or other bills.
At various stages of the legislative process, Members may propose amendments to bills. Amendments may first be proposed at the committee stage, during a committee’s clause-by-clause review of a bill. Amendments may also be proposed at the report stage, once a bill returns to the House.
Once a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the parliamentary counsel (Legislation) responsible for drafting the amendments for that bill.
Legislative Clerk
The legislative clerk serves all members of the committee as a specialist of the process by which a bill becomes law. They are available to give, upon request from Members and their staff, advice on the admissibility of amendments when bills are referred to committee. The legislative clerk organizes the amendments into packages for committee stage, reviews all the committee amendments for procedural admissibility and prepares draft rulings for the Chair.
During clause-by-clause consideration of bills in committee, a legislative clerk is in attendance to assist the committee with any procedural issues that may arise. The legislative clerk can also provide Members with advice regarding the procedural admissibility of report stage amendments. When a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the legislative clerk assigned to the bill.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an officer of Parliament created by the Parliament of Canada Act who supports Parliament by providing analysis, including analysis of macroeconomic and fiscal policy, for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability.
The Parliament of Canada Act also provides the PBO with a mandate to, if requested by a committee, estimate the financial cost of any proposal over which Parliament has jurisdiction. Certain committees, including the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, can also request research and analyses of the nation’s finances or economy, or of the estimates.
Further information on the PBO may be found at: http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/en/.
With regard to criminal law, the Committee examined a number of bills amending the Criminal Code and conducted studies to improve the criminal justice system, address modern crime issues, and protect vulnerable people. It has studied the following topics, among others: online harms (including online child sexual exploitation and hate crimes), forms of violence, exploitation, or abuse affecting certain victims (intimate partners, seniors, children, health professionals, and first responders), the bail system, the defence of self-induced extreme intoxication, and minimum sentences. In 2022, the Committee presented a substantial unanimous report for improving support for victims of crime.
Regarding human rights, the Committee produced a unanimous report on reforming Canada’s extradition system in 2023. In 2024, it presented separate reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia to address valid fears related to the rise in hate facing Canada’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
As for matters related to the administration of justice, the Committee studied a bill introducing a new process for reviewing allegations of misconduct for federally appointed judges in 2022. In 2024, it studied a bill on miscarriages of justice, which establishes an independent commission tasked with reviewing applications from people who may have been wrongly convicted.