Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (S.C. 2000, c. 24)

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 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. (crime contre l’humanité)

  genocide

  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. (génocide)

  war crime

  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. (crime de guerre)

• 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.