Allan Rock is president emeritus and a professor of Law at the University of Ottawa, and is a former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada.

In the summer of 2016, the Supreme Court delivered an unequivocal call to action.

It called on all criminal justice system actors to undertake real, transformative change. It called for an end to the “culture of complacency” plaguing our courts. The Jordan decision – one of the few Canadian court decisions to become a household name – created the expectation among Canadians that their government would act to improve the criminal justice system.

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Bill C-75 is the Trudeau government’s response to that challenge. While the proposed legislation does not address all of the problems in the system, it would resolve many of them. It is a commendable piece of legislation, and it merits the support of Canadians.

Much of the bill is a direct response to the Supreme Court decision. The court explicitly encouraged Parliament to “consider the value of preliminary inquiries in light of expanded disclosure obligations” – a call echoed by provincial attorneys-general across the country, and by some chief justices. When they were created, “preliminaries” provided the principal means by which the accused learned the particulars about the Crown’s case against them. Nowadays, stringent obligations compel prosecutors to make full disclosure as a matter of course. In short, preliminaries are no longer necessary.

While preliminaries occur in only three per cent of cases, they have a disproportionate impact. In Jordan itself, the preliminary took a full year to complete, including nine days of court time. Cases that include a preliminary take an average of four times longer to complete than those that do not. The Supreme Court has already held that preliminaries are not necessary in order for the accused to have a fair trial. Nor is there a constitutional right to a preliminary. Bill C-75 would bring about an 87-per-cent reduction in the number of preliminaries. That would provide welcome relief for an overburdened system.

Bill C-75’s most extensive reforms are focused on the bail system. The question of bail arises in every one of the hundreds of thousands of criminal cases that come before our courts each year.

The proposed bail reforms, along with changes in the way “administration of justice offences” are handled, will unclog the courts while also addressing the overrepresentation of vulnerable communities in pretrial custody.

In many detention facilities, there are more people awaiting trial than those who have been found guilty. And the evidence shows that Indigenous people and members of vulnerable populations are more likely to be denied bail. This is morally indefensible.

Bill C-75 will improve the bail system in several ways. It will direct the police and judiciary to follow a “principle of restraint,” instead of imposing burdensome conditions that set the accused up for failure without improving public safety. It will also require the court to consider the circumstances of accused from vulnerable, marginalized and Indigenous populations, and to ensure that any conditions imposed are necessary for public safety and the administration of justice.

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We know that Indigenous and marginalized Canadians are more likely to be charged with breaching bail conditions. This is due in large part to long-standing inequalities that affect the person’s life circumstances. For instance, the homeless may have trouble complying with a curfew, or may show up late to court. Those struggling with substance abuse may have trouble complying with a condition not to consume alcohol.

At present, the only option for the police – other than ignoring the breach – is to lay a fresh criminal charge against those who violate bail conditions. The consequences are significant: 40 per cent of cases before the courts involve at least one so-called “administration of justice offence”. Bill C-75 will empower the court in those cases to issue a warning, vary the bail conditions or revoke bail. This new tool will result in many fewer such cases in the system.

The legislation contains many other overdue changes, including stronger responses to intimate-partner violence: repeat offenders will find it more difficult to obtain bail, and face higher penalties on conviction. In addition, judges will be given new case-management tools; there will be increased use of technology in the courtroom; and peremptory challenges of prospective jurors will be eliminated.

The Supreme Court called on the government in Jordan to ensure that the criminal justice system is “conducive to timely justice.” Bill C-75 responds to that call. While it is disappointing that the legislation does not roll back the many mandatory-minimum penalties irresponsibly imposed by the Harper government, Bill C-75 will result in a significant improvement to the fairness and effectiveness of Canadian criminal justice.