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Antarctic Environmental Protection Act (S.C. 2003, c. 20)

Act current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2017-12-12. Previous Versions

Obstruction and False Information (continued)

 [Repealed, 2009, c. 14, s. 16]

Marginal note:Absolute or conditional discharge

  •  (1) If an offender has pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of an offence, the court may, instead of convicting the offender, by order direct that the offender be discharged absolutely or on conditions having any or all of the effects described in paragraphs 66(1)(a) to (n).

  • Marginal note:Conditions of order

    (2) If an order is made under subsection (1) and the offender contravenes or fails to comply with it, or is convicted of an offence under this Act, the prosecutor may apply to the court to revoke the discharge, convict the offender of the offence to which the discharge relates and impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the offender had been convicted at the time the order was made.

Marginal note:Suspended sentence

  •  (1) If an offender is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may suspend the passing of sentence and may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order under section 66.

  • Marginal note:Application by prosecutor

    (2) If the passing of sentence has been suspended under subsection (1) and the offender contravenes or fails to comply with an order made under section 66, or is convicted of an offence under this Act, the prosecutor may apply to the court to impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the passing of sentence had not been suspended.

Marginal note:Orders of court

  •  (1) If an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act, in addition to any other punishment that may be imposed under this Act, the court may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order having any or all of the following effects:

    • (a) prohibiting the offender from doing any act or engaging in any activity that may result in the continuation or repetition of the offence;

    • (b) directing the offender to take any action that the court considers appropriate to remedy or avoid any harm to the environment that results or may result from the act or omission that constituted the offence;

    • (c) directing the offender to carry out environmental effects monitoring in the manner established by the Minister or directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount for the purposes of environmental effects monitoring;

    • (c.1) directing the offender to implement an environmental management system that meets a recognized Canadian or international standard specified by the court;

    • (c.2) directing the offender to pay Her Majesty in right of Canada an amount of money that the court considers appropriate for the purpose of promoting the conservation or protection of the Antarctic environment or dependent and associated ecosystems;

    • (d) directing the offender to have an environmental audit conducted by a person of a class and at the times specified by the court and directing the offender to remedy any deficiencies revealed during the audit;

    • (e) directing the offender to publish, in the manner specified by the court, the facts relating to the commission of the offence and the details of the punishment imposed, including any orders made under this subsection;

    • (f) directing the offender to notify, at the offender’s own cost and in the manner directed by the court, any person aggrieved or affected by the offender’s conduct of the facts relating to the commission of the offence and of the details of the punishment imposed, including any orders made under this subsection;

    • (g) directing the offender to post any bond or pay any amount of money into court that will ensure compliance with any order made under this section;

    • (h) directing the offender to submit to the Minister, on application by the Minister made within three years after the date of conviction, any information with respect to the offender’s activities that the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances;

    • (i) directing the offender to compensate any person, monetarily or otherwise, in whole or in part, for the cost of any remedial or preventive action taken, caused to be taken or to be taken as a result of the act or omission that constituted the offence, including the costs of assessing appropriate remedial or preventive action;

    • (j) directing the offender to perform community service, subject to any reasonable conditions that may be imposed in the order;

    • (k) [Repealed, 2009, c. 14, s. 17]

    • (l) directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount for the purposes of conducting research with respect to the Antarctic;

    • (m) directing the offender to pay, in the manner prescribed by the court, an amount to an educational institution including for scholarships for students enrolled in studies related to the environment;

    • (n) requiring the offender to comply with any other conditions that the court considers appropriate in the circumstances for securing the offender’s good conduct and for deterring the offender and any other person from committing offences under this Act;

    • (o) requiring the offender to surrender to the Minister any permit issued to the person; and

    • (p) prohibiting the offender from applying for any new permit during any period that the court considers appropriate.

  • Marginal note:Publication

    (2) If an offender fails to comply with an order made under paragraph (1)(e), the Minister may, in the manner that the court directed the offender to do so, publish the facts relating to the commission of the offence and the details of the punishment imposed and recover the costs of publication from the offender.

  • Marginal note:Debt due to Her Majesty

    (3) If the court makes an order under paragraph (1)(c.2) or (i) directing a person to pay an amount to Her Majesty in right of Canada, or if the Minister incurs publication costs under subsection (2), the amount or the costs, as the case may be, constitute a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

  • Marginal note:Enforcement

    (4) If the court makes an order under paragraph (1)(i) directing an offender to pay an amount to a person, other than to Her Majesty in right of Canada, and the amount is not paid without delay, the person may, by filing the order, enter as a judgment, in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, the amount ordered to be paid, and that judgment is enforceable against the offender in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the offender in that court in civil proceedings.

  • Marginal note:Cancellation or suspension of permits

    (5) If the court makes an order under paragraph (1)(o), any permit to which the order relates is cancelled unless the court makes an order suspending it for any period that the court considers appropriate.

  • Marginal note:Coming into force and duration of order

    (6) An order made under subsection (1) comes into force on the day on which it is made or on any other day that the court may determine and shall not continue in force for more than three years after that day unless the court provides otherwise in the order.

  • 2003, c. 20, s. 66
  • 2009, c. 14, s. 17

Marginal note:Compensation for loss of property

  •  (1) If an offender has been convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may, at the time sentence is imposed and on the application of the person aggrieved, order the offender to pay to that person an amount by way of satisfaction or compensation for loss of or damage to property suffered by that person as a result of the commission of the offence.

  • Marginal note:Enforcement

    (2) If the amount ordered to be paid under subsection (1) is not paid without delay, the aggrieved person may, by filing the order, enter as a judgment, in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, the amount ordered to be paid, and that judgment is enforceable against the offender in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the offender in that court in civil proceedings.

  • 2009, c. 14, s. 18

Marginal note:Variation of sanctions

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), if a court has made, in relation to an offender, an order or direction under section 64, 65 or 66, the court may, on application by the offender or the Attorney General of Canada, require the offender to appear before it and, after hearing the offender and the Attorney General, vary the order in one or any combination of the following ways that is applicable and, in the opinion of the court, is rendered desirable by a change in the circumstances of the offender since the order was made:

    • (a) make changes in the order or the conditions specified in it or extend the time during which the order is to remain in force for any period, not exceeding one year, that the court considers desirable; or

    • (b) decrease the time during which the order is to remain in force or relieve the offender, either absolutely or partially or for any period that the court considers desirable, of compliance with any condition that is specified in the order.

  • Marginal note:Notice

    (2) Before making an order under subsection (1), the court may direct that notice be given to any persons that the court considers to be interested and may hear any of those persons.

Marginal note:Subsequent applications with leave

 If an application made under section 67 in respect of an offender has been heard by a court, no other application may be made under that section with respect to the offender except with leave of the court.

Marginal note:Application of fines

  •  (1) All fines received by the Receiver General in respect of the commission of an offence under this Act, other than fines collected under the Contraventions Act, are to be credited to the Environmental Damages Fund, an account in the accounts of Canada, and used for purposes related to protecting, conserving or restoring the environment or for administering that Fund.

  • Marginal note:Recommendations of court

    (2) The court imposing the fine may recommend to the Minister that all or a portion of the fine credited to the Environmental Damages Fund be paid to a person or an organization specified by the court for a purpose referred to in subsection (1).

  • 2009, c. 14, s. 19

Marginal note:Publication of information about contraventions

  •  (1) For the purpose of encouraging compliance with this Act and the regulations, the Minister shall maintain, in a registry accessible to the public, information about all convictions of corporations for offences under this Act.

  • Marginal note:Retention

    (2) Information in the registry is to be maintained for a minimum of five years.

  • 2009, c. 14, s. 19

Marginal note:Contraventions Act

 If an offence under this Act is designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act, subsection 8(5) of that Act does not apply in respect of the fine that may be established for that contravention.

  • 2009, c. 14, s. 19

Marginal note:Review

  •  (1) The Minister shall, 10 years after the day on which this section comes into force and every 10 years after that, undertake a review of sections 50 to 68.3.

  • Marginal note:Report to Parliament

    (2) The Minister shall, no later than one year after the day on which the review is undertaken, cause a report on the review to be tabled in each House of Parliament.

  • 2009, c. 14, s. 19

Disclosure of Information

Marginal note:Purposes for which information may be disclosed

  •  (1) Information obtained in the administration of this Act may be disclosed

    • (a) as may be necessary for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of this Act;

    • (b) in order to notify other Parties to the Protocol

      • (i) of the number and nature of permits issued under this Act, including their conditions,

      • (ii) of any environmental emergency that has been discovered in the Antarctic or of any information relevant to a potential environmental risk in the Antarctic, and

      • (iii) of an emergency in the Antarctic referred to in section 19 and any activities undertaken in relation to that emergency by a Canadian or other person on a Canadian expedition, a Canadian vessel or a Canadian aircraft;

    • (c) in order to make publicly available annual reports on the steps taken by Canada to implement the Protocol, including administrative actions, enforcement measures and the preparation and implementation of emergency plans and waste management plans;

    • (d) in order to make the following publicly available:

      • (i) an initial environmental evaluation,

      • (ii) any significant information obtained from procedures put in place to assess and verify the impact of an activity that has been the subject of an initial or comprehensive environmental evaluation, and any action taken in relation to that information, and

      • (iii) a draft comprehensive environmental evaluation, any comments received on the draft, the final comprehensive environmental evaluation, notice of any decision relating to the final evaluation and any evaluation of the significance of the predicted impacts in relation to the proposed activity;

    • (e) under an agreement or arrangement between the Government of Canada or any of its institutions and any other government in Canada, the government of a foreign state or an international organization or any of its institutions, or between the Minister and any other minister of the Crown in right of Canada, if

      • (i) the purpose of the agreement or arrangement is the administration or enforcement of a law, and

      • (ii) the government, international organization, institution or other minister undertakes to keep the information confidential; or

    • (f) under an agreement or arrangement between the Government of Canada and the government of a foreign state or an international organization, if the government or organization undertakes to keep the information confidential.

  • Marginal note:Disclosure of personal information

    (2) Personal information as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act may not be disclosed under subsection (1) unless

    • (a) the disclosure is in the interest of public health, public safety or the protection of the environment; and

    • (b) the public interest in the disclosure clearly outweighs in importance any damage to the privacy, reputation or human dignity of any individual that may result from the disclosure.

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Order

Footnote * The provisions of this Act come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

 

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