Marginal note:Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2. (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this Act.

  “conventional international law”

  « droit international conventionnel »

  “conventional international law” means any convention, treaty or other international agreement

  • (a) that is in force and to which Canada is a party; or

  • (b) that is in force and the provisions of which Canada has agreed to accept and apply in an armed conflict in which it is involved.

  “International Criminal Court”

  « Cour pénale internationale »

  “International Criminal Court” means the International Criminal Court established by the Rome Statute.

  “official”

  « fonctionnaire »

  “official”, in respect of the International Criminal Court, means the Prosecutor, Registrar, Deputy Prosecutor and Deputy Registrar, and the staff of the organs of the Court.

  “Rome Statute”

  « Statut de Rome »

  “Rome Statute” means the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court on July 17, 1998, as corrected by the procès-verbaux of November 10, 1998, July 12, 1999, November 30, 1999 and May 8, 2000, portions of which are set out in the schedule.

• Marginal note:Words and Expressions

  (2) Unless otherwise provided, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Criminal Code.

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

3. This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Marginal note:Genocide, etc., committed in Canada

• 4. (1) Every person is guilty of an indictable offence who commits

  • (a) genocide;

  • (b) a crime against humanity; or

  • (c) a war crime.

• Marginal note:Conspiracy, attempt, etc.

  (1.1) Every person who conspires or attempts to commit, is an accessory after the fact in relation to, or counsels in relation to, an offence referred to in subsection (1) is guilty of an indictable offence.

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (1.1)

  • (a) shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life, if an intentional killing forms the basis of the offence; and

  • (b) is liable to imprisonment for life, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (3) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

  “crime against humanity”

  « crime contre l’humanité »

  “crime against humanity” means murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, persecution or any other inhumane act or omission that is committed against any civilian population or any identifiable group and that, at the time and in the place of its commission, constitutes a crime against humanity according to customary international law or conventional international law or by virtue of its being criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations, whether or not it constitutes a contravention of the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission.

  “genocide”

  « génocide »

  “genocide” means an act or omission committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an identifiable group of persons, as such, that, at the time and in the place of its commission, constitutes genocide according to customary international law or conventional international law or by virtue of its being criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations, whether or not it constitutes a contravention of the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission.

  “war crime”

  « crime de guerre »

  “war crime” means an act or omission committed during an armed conflict that, at the time and in the place of its commission, constitutes a war crime according to customary international law or conventional international law applicable to armed conflicts, whether or not it constitutes a contravention of the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission.

• Marginal note:Interpretation — customary international law

  (4) For greater certainty, crimes described in Articles 6 and 7 and paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Rome Statute are, as of July 17, 1998, crimes according to customary international law. This does not limit or prejudice in any way the application of existing or developing rules of international law.