Canada and Iraq both share a democratic government. Unfortunately, Iraq has not been as successful as Canada in developing their criminal justice system. Iraq shares some of the same ideas as Western criminal law such as; right to a fair trial, right to an attorney and a right to be proven innocent until guilty (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982, s 10-11). Although the systems are alike Iraq has procedural issues like, longer wait times for trials and many accusations of coercion for confessions (Council on foreign affairs, 2008). Canada’s criminal justice system is well developed while Iraq’s criminal justice system is still striving to work through their internal issues. One of the main issues with the Iraqi criminal system is
…show more content…
Canada abides by the Rule of Law - which states that no one is above the law, not parliament, armed forces nor citizens (Dickinson, Leipner,Talos & Buckingham, 1996). Contrary to this, Iraqi officials seem to think they are above the law. One case that demonstrates this is the case of Hanan al-Fad reported by the Human Rights Watch in 2013. Hanan was seized by officers dressed in civilian clothing at a shopping mall. Once seized, they drove her to a state institution where she was beaten, shocked with an electric cable and threatened to do the same to her daughter. After being tortured for hours, she was finally told why she had been arrested. She was told that she was paying the price for refusing to waive through a project where the contractor had used sub-standard material. Hanan was a manager at a state-affiliated company that approves construction project. She hadn’t realized that an important government member had a stake in the project. They accused her of being bribed to stop the production. After hours of torture, she “confessed” or rather, said what they wanted to hear. A day later, they brought before a judge who ignored the swelling and bruises on her face. She was not granted a lawyer. She was sentenced to four years based on a “confession” obtained through torture. In Canada this would never go unnoticed, as it is against the Charter of rights and freedoms and the Criminal Code. Both Iraq and
Canada abides by the Rule of Law - which states that no one is above the law, not parliament, armed forces nor citizens (Dickinson, Leipner,Talos & Buckingham, 1996). Contrary to this, Iraqi officials seem to think they are above the law. One case that demonstrates this is the case of Hanan al-Fad reported by the Human Rights Watch in 2013. Hanan was seized by officers dressed in civilian clothing at a shopping mall. Once seized, they drove her to a state institution where she was beaten, shocked with an electric cable and threatened to do the same to her daughter. After being tortured for hours, she was finally told why she had been arrested. She was told that she was paying the price for refusing to waive through a project where the contractor had used sub-standard material. Hanan was a manager at a state-affiliated company that approves construction project. She hadn’t realized that an important government member had a stake in the project. They accused her of being bribed to stop the production. After hours of torture, she “confessed” or rather, said what they wanted to hear. A day later, they brought before a judge who ignored the swelling and bruises on her face. She was not granted a lawyer. She was sentenced to four years based on a “confession” obtained through torture. In Canada this would never go unnoticed, as it is against the Charter of rights and freedoms and the Criminal Code. Both Iraq and