In 1984, The Honourable Mr. Justice Bouck of the British Columbia Supreme Court approached CLEBC about publishing standard jury instructions in the criminal and civil areas. We agreed to undertake the project, persuaded that such volumes would benefit the Bench and Bar and enhance the administration of justice in Canada. The first edition of Canadian Criminal Jury Instructions (“CRIMJI”) was published in the fall of 1987 and has been updated annually.
CRIMJI contains more than 150 standard instructions covering trial procedure, rules of evidence, offences, and defences. The instructions present the law in an organized, orderly way, in language that is easy to understand. While standard instructions are, of necessity, somewhat generic in nature, a fair degree of customization is made possible by the user notes and the presentation of alternatives and blanks to fill in with case-specific information. In addition, CRIMJI instructions can be modified electronically by downloading the instructions, which are available on CD-ROM, as well as the online version of CRIMJI.
Many people have contributed to CRIMJI over the years, but there are a few that stand out and to whom CLEBC would like to express special thanks. The founding authors — the late Mr. Justice John Bouck and Professor Gerry Ferguson — brought an incredible amount of time, energy, and commitment to this project, and deserve much credit for the significant contribution they have made to the administration of justice in Canada.
The 35th CRIMJI update will be available in December 2021.