An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other amendments) (S.C. 2008, c. 18)
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Assented to 2008-05-29
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other amendments)
S.C. 2008, c. 18
Assented to 2008-05-29
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other amendments)
SUMMARY
This enactment amends various provisions of the Criminal Code in relation to criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other matters.
The amendments respecting criminal procedure provide for, among other things,
(a) the use of a means of telecommunication to forward warrants for the purpose of endorsement;
(b) changes to the process with respect to the challenge of jurors;
(c) a new election for the accused where a preferred indictment has been filed against him or her or where the Supreme Court of Canada orders a new trial;
(d) an appeal of a superior court order with respect to things seized lying with the court of appeal;
(e) summary dismissal by a single judge of the court of appeal when an appeal has erroneously been filed with that court; and
(f) a summary conviction trial with respect to co-accused that can proceed where one of the co-accused does not appear.
The amendments respecting the language of the accused clarify the application of provisions related to that matter.
The amendments respecting sentencing provide for, among other things,
(a) clarifications with respect to the application of impaired driving penalties;
(b) the power to order an offender not to communicate with identified persons while in custody and the creation of an offence for failing to comply with the order;
(c) the power to delay the sentencing proceedings so that an offender can participate in a provincially approved treatment program;
(d) an increase of the maximum fine that can be imposed for a summary conviction offence to $5,000 and a change with respect to the calculation of the period of imprisonment to be imposed in default of payment of a fine;
(e) the suspension of a conditional sentence order or a probation order during an appeal;
(f) in the case of a person serving a youth sentence who receives an adult sentence, clarification that the remaining portion of the youth sentence is converted to an adult sentence; and
(g) the power of a court to order, on application by the Attorney General and after convicting a person of the offence of luring a child by means of a computer system, the forfeiture of things used in relation to that offence.
The enactment amends the description of the offence of conveying information on betting and book-making so that the offence encompasses the conveying of that information by any means and makes related changes to the exemption provided with respect to the use of a pari-mutuel system.
Finally, amendments are also made to reclassify the offence of possession of break and enter instruments into a dual procedure offence.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.S., c. C-46CRIMINAL CODE
Marginal note:1997, c. 18, s. 2
1. Subsection 4(7) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Proof of service in accordance with provincial laws
(6.1) Despite subsection (6), the service of documents may be proved in accordance with the laws of a province relating to offences created by the laws of that province.
Marginal note:Attendance for examination
(7) Despite subsection (6) or (6.1), the court may require the person who appears to have signed an affidavit, a solemn declaration or a statement in accordance with that subsection to appear before it for examination or cross-examination in respect of the issue of proof of service or of the giving or sending of any notice.
Marginal note:1995, c. 39, s. 139
2. Subsections 117.13(4) and (5) of the Act are repealed.
Marginal note:1994, c. 44, s. 8(1)
3. The portion of subsection 145(3) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Failure to comply with condition of undertaking or recognizance
(3) Every person who is at large on an undertaking or recognizance given to or entered into before a justice or judge and is bound to comply with a condition of that undertaking or recognizance, and every person who is bound to comply with a direction under subsection 515(12) or 522(2.1) or an order under subsection 516(2), and who fails, without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on them, to comply with the condition, direction or order is guilty of
Marginal note:2002, c. 13, s. 7
4. The portion of subsection 164.2(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Forfeiture of things used for child pornography
164.2 (1) On application of the Attorney General, a court that convicts a person of an offence under section 163.1 or 172.1, in addition to any other punishment that it may impose, may order that any thing — other than real property — be forfeited to Her Majesty and disposed of as the Attorney General directs if it is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that the thing
5. Paragraph 202(1)(i) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(i) wilfully and knowingly sends, transmits, delivers or receives any message that conveys any information relating to book-making, pool-selling, betting or wagering, or that is intended to assist in book-making, pool-selling, betting or wagering; or
Marginal note:1989, c. 2, s. 1(1)
6. Subsection 204(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Presumption
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), bets made, in accordance with the regulations, in a betting theatre referred to in paragraph (8)(e), or by any means of telecommunication to the race-course of an association or to such a betting theatre, are deemed to be made on the race-course of the association.
7. Section 255 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):
Marginal note:Interpretation
(3.1) For greater certainty, every one who is liable to the punishment described in subsection (2) or (3) is also liable to the minimum punishment described in paragraph (1)(a).
Marginal note:2001, c. 37, s. 1
8. (1) Subsections 259(1.1) to (1.4) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Alcohol ignition interlock device program
(1.1) If the offender is registered in an alcohol ignition interlock device program established under the law of the province in which the offender resides and complies with the conditions of the program, the offender may, subject to subsection (1.2), operate a motor vehicle equipped with an alcohol ignition interlock device during the prohibition period, unless the court orders otherwise.
Marginal note:Minimum absolute prohibition period
(1.2) An offender who is registered in a program referred to in subsection (1.1) may not operate a motor vehicle equipped with an alcohol ignition interlock device until
(a) the expiry of a period of
(i) for a first offence, 3 months after the day on which sentence is imposed,
(ii) for a second offence, 6 months after the day on which sentence is imposed, and
(iii) for each subsequent offence, 12 months after the day on which sentence is imposed; or
(b) the expiry of any period that may be fixed by order of the court that is greater than a period referred to in paragraph (a).
Marginal note:R.S., c. 1 (4th Supp.), s. 18 (Sch. I, item 8)(F)
(2) Paragraph 259(2)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(a) during any period that the court considers proper, if the offender is sentenced to imprisonment for life in respect of that offence;
(a.1) during any period that the court considers proper, plus any period to which the offender is sentenced to imprisonment, if the offender is liable to imprisonment for life in respect of that offence and if the sentence imposed is other than imprisonment for life;
(3) Section 259 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Marginal note:Consecutive prohibition periods
(2.1) The court may, when it makes an order under this section prohibiting the operation of a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment, as the case may be, order that the time served under that order be served consecutively to the time served under any other order made under this section that prohibits the operation of the same means of transport and that is in force.
Marginal note:R.S., c. 32 (4th Supp.), s. 62(3)
(4) The portion of subsection 259(4) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Operation while disqualified
(4) Every offender who operates a motor vehicle, vessel or aircraft or any railway equipment in Canada while disqualified from doing so, other than an offender who is registered in an alcohol ignition interlock device program established under the law of the province in which the offender resides and who complies with the conditions of the program,
Marginal note:R.S., c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 48
9. Subsection 351(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Possession of break-in instrument
351. (1) Every one who, without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on them, has in their possession any instrument suitable for the purpose of breaking into any place, motor vehicle, vault or safe under circumstances that give rise to a reasonable inference that the instrument has been used or is or was intended to be used for such a purpose,
(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years; or
(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Marginal note:1996, c. 31, s. 72
10. Section 481.2 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Offence outside Canada
481.2 Subject to this or any other Act of Parliament, where an act or omission is committed outside Canada and the act or omission is an offence when committed outside Canada under this or any other Act of Parliament, proceedings in respect of the offence may, whether or not the accused is in Canada, be commenced, and an accused may be charged, tried and punished within any territorial division in Canada in the same manner as if the offence had been committed in that territorial division.
11. (1) Subsection 487(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Endorsement of search warrant
(2) If the building, receptacle or place is in another territorial division, the justice may issue the warrant with any modifications that the circumstances require, and it may be executed in the other territorial division after it has been endorsed, in Form 28, by a justice who has jurisdiction in that territorial division. The endorsement may be made on the original of the warrant or on a copy of the warrant transmitted by any means of telecommunication.
Marginal note:1999, c. 5, s. 16(2)
(2) Subsection 487(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Effect of endorsement
(4) An endorsement that is made in accordance with subsection (2) is sufficient authority to the peace officers or public officers to whom the warrant was originally directed, and to all peace officers within the jurisdiction of the justice by whom it is endorsed, to execute the warrant and to deal with the things seized in accordance with section 489.1 or as otherwise provided by law.
Marginal note:1995, c. 27, s. 1; 2000, c. 10, s. 13
12. Subsection 487.03(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Execution in another province
487.03 (1) If a warrant is issued under section 487.01, 487.05 or 492.1 or subsection 492.2(1) in one province, a judge or justice, as the case may be, in another province may, on application, endorse the warrant if it may reasonably be expected that it is to be executed in the other province and that its execution would require entry into or on the property of any person, or would require that an order be made under section 487.02 with respect to any person, in that province.
Marginal note:Endorsement
(1.1) The endorsement may be made on the original of the warrant or on a copy of the warrant that is transmitted by any means of telecommunication and, once endorsed, the warrant has the same force in the other province as though it had originally been issued there.
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