David Milgaard, centre, responds to a reporter's question during a news conference outlining his support of the wrongfully convicted with Solange Dumont, right, wife of wrongfully convicted Quebecer Michel Dumont and Ronald Dalton, a wrongfully convicted Newfoundland resident, in Saskatoon. (CPimages '05/Geoff Howe)

REGINA (CP) - Ronald Dalton admits that he doesn't have much faith in the justice system and likely never will again.

After spending nearly nine years wrongfully in prison for the 1988 death of his wife - languishing in a cell as defence lawyers put off and shuffled around his eventually successful appeal - trust is not something that's easily repaired.

Still, when asked about ways to fix a justice system that so badly failed him, the former bank manager from Newfoundland, now a grandfather in his late 40s, can list off a host of things to be considered.

Among them, an oft-stated concern from people like him - a need for independence in the process by which wrongfully convicted individuals go about clearing their names and restoring their reputations.

"The independence that is required is not to give me back confidence in the system because I'm not sure I . . . will ever have confidence in the justice system, but just the public generally," Dalton says.

"It can happen to anyone is the caveat here."

With the Ontario Court of Appeal plodding its way through a review of Steven Truscott's 1959 murder conviction and ongoing public inquiries into the wrongful convictions of David Milgaard in Saskatchewan and James Driskell in Manitoba, the frailties of the justice system again figured prominently in the headlines of 2006.

That will likely continue in the new year, with a decision expected in the Truscott case and reports pending in both the Milgaard and Driskell matters.

Advocates who fight for the liberation of those who have been unjustly imprisoned say Canada needs an independent system, similar to the one in the United Kingdom, to investigate and evaluate wrongful convictions.

Since the Criminal Code was enacted in 1892, the only recourse to have a conviction overturned - after all appeals have been exhausted - is through an application to the federal minister of justice.

No less than five senior Canadian judges reviewing other wrongful convictions have suggested an independent panel be considered, and judges reviewing the Milgaard and Driskell cases have been asked to consider recommending some form of independent evaluation process to help clear people's names.

"It's so blatantly obvious that it seems to me that this is what we should have," says James Lockyer, a prominent lawyer who tries to uncover wrongful convictions with the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted.

"You don't run a justice system, especially if you are trying to find wrongful convictions, through a politician, and that is what we have at the moment."

The current system is far too rigid, says Jerome Kennedy, the Newfoundland lawyer who helped free Dalton. No one wants to admit a mistake has been made for fear of the damage it will do.

"There's still a reluctance in our system to acknowledge that we have convicted the innocent," Kennedy says.

"As good as the system is, you are still dealing with human beings. You are still dealing with pride, ego and ambition - a firm belief on the part of individuals that they have the right person."

Britain is held up by advocates as a model of the way a system should work.

In 1997 the responsibility of reviewing convictions was removed from the office of the home secretary and placed in the hands of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body that has the ability to investigate claims of wrongful conviction and send the ones that warrant back to the courts.

The commission has reviewed more than 8,500 cases and bounced more than 330 back to the appeals courts. Of those, about two-thirds of the verdicts have been quashed.

"We would regard that as being a good thing in terms of exposing convictions that are wrongful," says David Kyle, a former Crown prosecutor who helped establish the British commission.

Kyle was called to testify about the commission's work earlier this year at the Milgaard inquiry.

"If someone is going to be convicted of an offence and sent to prison, sometimes for very, very many years, then the processes by which they are put in prison for many, many years should operate fairly," he says. "If it doesn't, then they have not had a fair trial."

In 1989 the three judges presiding over the royal commission looking into the wrongful murder conviction of Donald Marshall recommended that the federal and provincial governments discuss the idea of an independent panel.

Similar recommendations were made in 1998 by Judge Fred Kaufman at the inquiry into Guy Paul Morin's wrongful conviction and in 2001 by Justice Peter Cory, who reviewed Thomas Sophonow's wrongful conviction.

In response to the criticism, in 2002, the federal government made some changes to the way criminal convictions are reviewed.

The lawyers who review the claims for the minister were given investigative powers to subpoena witnesses and compel the production of documents. A special adviser to the minister - not an employee of the Justice Department - was also appointed to take a second look at each file the government reviews.

Since then, eight possible wrongful convictions, including Truscott's and Driskell's, have been referred back to the courts, says Kerry Scullion, director of the six-member Criminal Conviction Review Group.

"I think there is a degree of independence to it. We are not directed by anyone on how we do our business. There has been absolutely no political pressure put upon us to do things any certain way," Scullion says.

"I think a lot of times it's perception and, because it is still part of government, even though there are steps that have been taken to promote the independence aspect of it, there will always be that perception that it's still part of government and not independent. That's the nature of the beast."

The changes to the Canadian system were pitched as a compromise between the British system and the status quo. But with the ultimate decision to overturn a conviction still in the hands of a politician, critics say it's just window dressing.

"It's all done in-house, even though they say they are a separate department," says Dalton, who has received an apology from the Newfoundland government but has yet to be compensated for his time behind bars.

"Obviously you are going back to the same people that put you in there, telling them that they are wrong and asking them to acknowledge there own mistakes."

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List of people wrongfully convicted or trying to clear their names

Some of the Canadians who have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted, and others who are trying to clear their names:

William Mullins-Johnson: Spent 12 years in prison for the 1993 death of his four-year-old niece Valin Johnson. Key forensic evidence that could have been used in his defence was mislaid by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, whose work is now the subject of a coroner's review. Mullins-Johnson is free on bail while the federal justice minister reviews his case.

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Steven Truscott: Sentenced to hang in 1959, at the age of 14, for murder of 12-year-old Ontario schoolgirl Lynne Harper. Sentence later commuted to life in prison; paroled in 1969. Has lived in Guelph, Ont., since 1970. Case is currently being reviewed by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

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Guy Paul Morin: Tried twice for 1984 killing of nine-year-old Christine Jessop north of Toronto. Acquitted in 1986; convicted at retrial in 1992 and imprisoned. Exonerated in 1995 on strength of DNA evidence and awarded $1.2 million in compensation.

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David Milgaard: Convicted in 1969, at the age of 16, in murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison before his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1992. DNA evidence helped catch Miller's real killer, Larry Fisher, who was convicted in 1999. Milgaard awarded $10 million in compensation and his case is currently the subject of a public inquiry. The report is expected out sometime in 2007.

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Donald Marshall: Nova Scotia man convicted in 1971 of murdering Sandy Seale. Spent nearly 19 years in prison before being exonerated by royal commission report in 1990. Compensated with lifetime pension of $1.5 million. Returned to public eye in 1999, when a legal challenge he launched produced landmark Supreme Court ruling on native fishing rights.

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Romeo Phillion: Granted bail in July 2003 after spending more than 30 years in prison for 1967 murder of Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy. Phillion confessed to killing while in custody for robbery charge, but later claimed confession was ill-advised joke. Justice Minister Vic Toews has ordered Phillion's case back to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

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James Driskell: Winnipeg man spent more than 12 years behind bars after being convicted in June 1991 of killing friend Perry Harder. Convicted without confession, witness or murder weapon. Was released on bail in November 2003 and the conviction was quashed in 2005 after new evidence showed key witnesses were paid for testimony and given immunity from prosecution for other crimes. Case is now subject of a public inquiry. Report is expected out early in 2007.

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Ronald Dalton - Newfoundland man convicted in 1989 of strangling his wife, he maintained she choked on cereal. It took almost nine years for his appeal to be heard. He was acquitted in June 2000. Provincial government has apologized but has yet to compensate him.

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Randy Druken - Newfoundland man convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend, he spent almost six years in prison before he was granted an appeal. The Crown stayed the charges after a jailhouse informant recanted his testimony. Recently paid $2 million by the provincial government.

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Greg Parsons - In 1994, the Newfoundland man was convicted of killing his mother. He served six weeks before he was granted bail pending appeal. He was later exonerated by DNA evidence and formally acquitted in 1998. Province gave him an apology and $1.3 million in compensation.

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Thomas Sophonow - Spent nearly four years in prison for wrongful conviction in 1981 murder of 16-year-old doughnut shop clerk Barbara Stoppel in Manitoba. Cleared in 2000 after three trials. Received $2.3 million in compensation.