Creating a Federal Inmate Grievance Tribunal

Abstract

Federal inmates in Canada currently have access to a wide variety of mechanisms that purport to ensure their rights are respected: internal grievance systems, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the court system, and more. However, for a variety of reasons, each of these mechanisms is inadequate to import accountability and the rule of law into the prison system. Instead, this article proposes the creation of the Federal Inmate Grievance Tribunal to rule on the merits of selected grievances. Key features of the proposed tribunal include fairness and independence; timely resolution of cases; and the ability to issue binding orders. In addition, the structure of the proposed tribunal is discussed.

Keywords: prison, inmate rights, grievance tribunal

JEL Classification: K1, K19