‘Milgaard’s Law’ aims to review claims of wrongful convictions in Canada

A man’s wrongful conviction for a murder in Saskatchewan is the driving force behind a bill introduced Thursday in the House of Commons.

The Liberal bill dubbed “David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law” is named for David Milgaard, who was convicted of the 1969 rape and murder of Gail Miller in Saskatoon.

Milgaard spent 23 years behind bars for the nursing student’s killing before his exoneration and release in 1992. He died a free man in Calgary last year.

Ultimately, Larry Earl Fisher was convicted of the crime in 1999, three decades after Miller’s death. He died in prison in 2005.

The bill, according to The Canadian Press, will establish an independent commission to review and investigate criminal cases, and decide which ones should be sent back to the justice system.

The federal government said wrongful convictions are rare in Canada, but a formal process to review cases is still necessary to help protect innocent people from suffering the same fate as Milgaard.

Applicants would have to exhaust all their formal appeal avenues before applying to have their case reviewed by the commission, the government added.

— With files from The Canadian Press