'An absolute blessing': Milgaard's Law receives royal assent, giving hope to the wrongfully convicted

For Susan Milgaard, a new Canadian law brings special meaning.

“Mom would be extremely happy, and David would be as well,” said Milgaard, the sister of David Milgaard.

Bill C-40, the Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission Act, better known as David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law, received royal assent Tuesday.

It creates a new, independent commission to review potential wrongful convictions, like when David Milgaard was arrested and charged with murder in Saskatoon in 1969.

The federal government says it’s a step toward making Canada’s justice system more fair and equitable, and more supportive of potentially wrongfully convicted people, communities, and victims of crime.

“The statistics from my perspective are actually quite startling,” said Arif Virani, Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada. “The statistics point to a situation where we know that the justice system is strong. I agree with James on that, but we know that the justice system makes mistakes.”

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Milgaard spent 23 years in prison before he was eventually released and exonerated. He and his mother spent the rest of their lives advocating for change to the review process. He died in 2022.

“To see this is an absolute blessing for both of them,” said Susan Milgaard. “And I feel that from them in my heart, and they’re with me here today.”

The case is known among lawyers as one of the most notorious Canadian wrongful conviction cases, and it’s examined in law schools across the country.

“That is a particular situation where, things didn’t just go wrong through the review process,” said Meagan Ward, partner with Ward Mischuk Thomson LLP. “The issues that brought Mr. Milgaard to the point of being wrongfully convicted started at the very start. It started with the investigation, it started with the court process, it started with all of those things. And ultimately, I think we’ve always been taught as lawyers to be mindful of how important our role is.”

While she says no one sets out to wrongfully convict someone, issues can compound through the rest of the process. Ward sees this as a positive step, but she’d like to see more improvements to the review process for wrongful convictions.

“There’s room for improvement throughout the entire process to try to safeguard our system from finding itself where it has wrongfully convicted someone.”

She adds the new law will remove any appearance of bias that came from the previous system, where the justice minister would effectively investigate its own ministry.

“Even if there is no actual bias through the old ministerial process, I think there potentially is sometimes an appearance of bias,” she said. “Where having somebody in the government review decisions by people who are also technically part of the government.”

The federal government says it will work quickly to launch the Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission, so it can start reviewing cases as soon as possible.