Do you have Gladue rights?
Yes. First Nations, Metis and Inuit who self identify, have Gladue rights. Your Gladue rights apply if you live off or on a reserve as well as in an Indigenous or in a non-Indigenous community.
Due to the R. v. Gladue decision, judges now have a duty to review information coming from a Gladue report (or made through Gladue submissions) that outlines the unique systemic or background factors which may have played a part in bringing the particular individual before the court.
The Canadian Criminal Code under s718.2(e) states “all available sanctions, other than imprisonment, that are reasonable in the circumstances and consistent with the harm done to victims or to the community should be considered for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders.”
What are Gladue factors?
Judges have a duty to apply Gladue principles, irrespective of the charge and regardless of which court the offender appears in.
This is not an exhaustive list but covers many of the most common Gladue factors:
- Impacts of colonialism
- Feelings of loneliness, abandonment, dislocation from culture, community, and family
- Loss of access to ceremonies and healing practices
- Racism and systemic discrimination
- Lack of opportunity and isolation of community
- Housing shortages and homelessness
- Foster care, adoption, 60s scoop
- Victimization/offenders of violence
- Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
- High rates of incarceration
- Lower education levels or irrelevance of education
- Lower-level employment, unemployment, and poverty
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
- Substance misuse
- Mental health
Interested in getting a Gladue report?
We can help you get a Gladue report by clicking the button below and filling out the information form. Once completed, a Gladue Services Coordinator will respond to the email or phone number you’ve provided within 72 hours.
If you are located in any of the communities where we have an Indigenous Justice Centre (Chilliwack, Kelowna, Merritt, Nanaimo, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Surrey, Vancouver, or Victoria), please reach out to the Indigenous Justice Centre that serves your community. If you are located outside the communities below, please access our Virtual Indigenous Justice Centre.
For more information on the Indigenous Justice Centres, contact information, and the services they provide, please visit the IJC webpage by clicking the link below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do Gladue rights come from?
Due to the R. v. Gladue decision, judges now have a duty to review information coming from a Gladue report (or made through Gladue submissions) that outline the unique background factors which may have played a part in bringing an individual before the court.
What is a Gladue report?
A Gladue report is a report prepared for sentencing, bail, appeals, long term offenders hearings, dangerous offenders hearings, or parole hearings that provide the court with comprehensive information on the offender, their community, and their family and a healing and restorative justice plan as an alternative to prison time.
What are Gladue principles?
R. v. Gladue is the 1999 supreme court of Canada decision which recognized the need to deal with the crisis of exceptionally high rates of Indigenous people in jails across Canada.
What is a Gladue report for?
The goal of the Gladue report is to increase rehabilitation, prevent future offences, promote community safety and prevent victimization (people being harmed). A Gladue report gives the court a complete picture of your life (timeline of events and experiences) and your unique background factors or “Gladue factors.” A Gladue report will list the possible causes of your offence cycle and set out a customized healing and restorative justice plan made with you, for you.
What will a Gladue report writer do after your consent form is signed?
You give the writer permission to:
- Communicate with your lawyer and/or crown counsel
- Interview you (the client of the Gladue report)
- Request records about you (eg. medical, police, corrections, legal, psychiatric, psychological, educations, social and family information, adoption records)
- Interview and obtain information from your family, friends and professionals in your circle
- Research your community (programs and services, and effects of colonization)
- Write a Gladue report
- Send your report to an independent legal reviewer
Please pay close attention to the consent form you sign. The form you sign is the one that has obligations placed on yourself and the Gladue report writer.
What happens after the Gladue report is completed?
The writer will go over the draft copy with you, then get your feedback and ensure accuracy. The writer will then send a copy of your Gladue report to your lawyer and/or the crown counsel and the judiciary, at least one week before your hearing.
Privacy
Out of respect for your privacy and at the end of the first interview, the writer will provide you with an opportunity to ask you how much information you are comfortable with the writer sharing with your family and community and who you suggest is contacted. The writer may have to discuss some of the details of your offence to determine eligibility to programs with your Nation or other Indigenous organizations. The Gladue Services Department will keep a copy of your Gladue report for their records, in a secure, encrypted, confidential archive system.
Responsibilities of the Gladue Report Writer
The writer is responsible to you as the client to be accountable, transparent and respect confidentiality. The writer is independent from the courts, lawyers and criminal justice representatives. Gladue report writers are neutral. Their job is to bring forward your voice and your story and provide non-custodial options for the court to consider.