Definition of “suspending authority”

• 216. (1) In this section and section 217, “suspending authority” means any authority prescribed to be a suspending authority in regulations made by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Suspension of imprisonment or detention

  (2) A suspending authority may suspend a punishment of imprisonment or detention, whether or not the offender has already been committed to undergo that punishment, if there are imperative reasons relating to military operations or the offender’s welfare.

• Marginal note:Notification

  (2.1) A suspending authority that suspends a punishment shall, unless the punishment was included in a sentence that was imposed at a summary trial, provide written reasons for the suspension to any person prescribed in regulations made by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Committal after suspension

  (2.2) A suspending authority may — if the reasons described in subsection (2) no longer apply or if the offender’s conduct is inconsistent with the reasons for which the punishment was suspended — revoke the suspension of a punishment and commit the offender or, if the person is not empowered to commit the offender, direct an authority so empowered to do so.

Marginal note:Review and remission

• 217. (1) If a punishment has been suspended, it may at any time, and shall at intervals of not more than three months, be reviewed by a suspending authority. The suspending authority may, at the time of the review and in accordance with regulations made by the Governor in Council, remit the punishment.

Parole Eligibility

Marginal note:Sentence of imprisonment for life

• 226.1 (1) A court martial that imposes a punishment of imprisonment for life shall pronounce the following sentence:

  • (a) in the case of a person who has been convicted of having committed traitorously an offence of misconduct in the presence of an enemy (section 73 or 74), an offence related to security (section 75) or an offence in relation to prisoners of war (section 76), imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served 25 years of the sentence;

  • (b) in the case of a person who has been convicted of an offence of high treason or an offence of first degree murder, imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served 25 years of the sentence;

  • (c) in the case of a person who has been convicted of an offence of second degree murder and has previously been convicted of culpable homicide that is murder, imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served 25 years of the sentence;

  • (d) in the case of a person who has been convicted of an offence of second degree murder, imprisonment for life without eligi­bility for parole until the person has served at least 10 years of the sentence or any greater number of years, not being more than 25, that has been substituted under subsection (2); or

  • (e) in the case of a person who has been convicted of any other offence, imprisonment for life with normal eligibility for parole.

• Marginal note:Provisions of Criminal Code apply

  (2) Sections 745.1 to 746.1 of the Criminal Code apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to a sentence of impris­onment for life that is imposed under this Act, and for that purpose

  • (a) a reference in sections 745.2 and 745.3 of the Criminal Code to a jury shall be read as a reference to the panel of a General Court Martial; and

  • (b) in the case of a conviction that took place outside Canada, a reference in section 745.6 of the Criminal Code to the province in which a conviction took place shall be read as a reference to the province in which the offender is incarcerated when they make an application under that section.

Marginal note:Power of court martial to delay parole

• 226.2 (1) Despite section 120 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, if a person receives a sentence of imprisonment for life that is imposed otherwise than as a minimum punishment or a sentence of imprisonment for two years or more on conviction for an offence set out in Schedule I or II to that Act that is punishable under section 130 of this Act, a court martial may order that the portion of the sentence that must be served before the person may be released on full parole is one half of the sentence or 10 years, whichever is less.

• Marginal note:Condition

  (2) The court martial may only make the order if it is satisfied, having regard to the circumstances of the commission of the offence and the person’s character and circumstances, that the expression of society’s denunciation of the offence or the objective of specific or general deterrence requires that the order be made.

• Marginal note:Criminal organization offences

  (3) Despite section 120 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, if a person receives a sentence of imprisonment for life that is imposed otherwise than as a minimum punishment or a sentence of imprisonment for two years or more on conviction under this Act for a criminal organization offence, the court martial may order that the portion of the sentence that must be served before the person may be released on full parole is one half of the sentence or 10 years, whichever is less.

• Marginal note:Power of court martial to delay parole

  (4) Despite section 120 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, if a person receives a sentence of impris­onment of two years or more, including a sentence of impris­onment for life, on conviction under this Act for a terrorism offence, the court martial shall order that the portion of the sentence that must be served before the person may be released on full parole is one half of the sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, unless the court martial is satisfied, having regard to the circumstances of the commission of the offence and the person’s character and circumstances, that the expression of society’s denunciation of the offence and the objectives of specific or general deterrence would be adequately served by a period of parole ineligibility determined in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

• Marginal note:Objectives

  (5) The paramount objectives that are to guide the court martial under this section are denunciation and specific or general deterrence, with the rehabilitation of the person, in all cases, being subordinate to those paramount objectives.

• (h) the legality of an order made under section 147.1 or 226.2 and, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the reasonableness of any period imposed under section 147.2;

• (i) the legality of an order made under section 148 and the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of any condition imposed under that section;

• (j) the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of a restitution order made under section 203.9 or the legality of an order made under section 249.25; or

• (k) the legality of a suspension of a sentence of imprisonment or detention and the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of any condition imposed under subsection 215(3).

• (i) the legality of an order made under section 147.1 or 226.2 and, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the reasonableness of any period imposed under section 147.2;

• (j) the legality of an order made under section 148 and the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of any condition imposed under that section;

• (k) the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of a restitution order made under section 203.9 or the legality of an order made under section 249.25; or

• (l) the legality of a suspension of a sentence of imprisonment or detention and the legality or, with leave of the Court or a judge of the Court, the severity of any condition imposed under subsection 215(3).

Marginal note:Avocats

• 249.21 (1) Le directeur du service d’avocats de la défense peut être assisté par des avocats inscrits au barreau d’une province.

Marginal note:Appeal committee

• 249.211 (1) The Governor in Council may by regulation establish a committee to determine, on the basis of the factors prescribed in regulations made by the Governor in Council, whether legal services should be provided by the Director of Defence Counsel Services to a person who exercises the right to appeal under section 230 or 245.

• Marginal note:Protection of committee members

  (2) No criminal or civil proceedings lie against a member of the committee for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of a power or in the performance or purported performance of a duty or function of the committee.

Marginal note:Restitution of property in case of conviction

• 249.25 (1) A service tribunal that convicts or discharges absolutely a person of an offence shall order that any property obtained by the commission of the offence shall be restored to the person apparently entitled to it if, at the time of the trial, the property is before the service tribunal or has been detained so that it can be immediately restored under the order to the person so entitled.

Criminal Record

Marginal note:Convictions for certain offences

• 249.27 (1) A person who is convicted of any of the following offences, or who has been convicted of any of them before the coming into force of this section, has not been convicted of a criminal offence:

  • (a) an offence described in section 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 97, 99, 101, 101.1, 102, 103, 108, 109, 112, 116, 117, 118, 118.1, 120, 121, 122, 123, 126 or 129 for which the offender is sentenced to

    • (i) a severe reprimand,

    • (ii) a reprimand,

    • (iii) a fine not exceeding basic pay for one month, or

    • (iv) a minor punishment;

  • (b) an offence under section 130 that constitutes a contravention within the meaning of the Contraventions Act.

• Marginal note:Criminal Records Act

  (2) An offence referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) does not constitute an offence for the purposes of the Criminal Records Act.

• Marginal note:Serment

  (11) Avant d’entrer en fonctions, les membres prêtent le serment suivant :

  Moi, .........., je jure (ou j’affirme solennellement) que j’exercerai fidèlement et honnêtement les devoirs qui m’incombent en ma qualité de membre de la Commission d’examen des plaintes concernant la police militaire en conformité avec les prescriptions de la Loi sur la défense nationale applicables à celle-ci, ainsi que toutes règles et instructions établies sous son régime, et que je ne révélerai ni ne ferai connaître, sans y avoir été dûment autorisé(e), rien de ce qui parviendra à ma connaissance en raison de mes fonctions. (Dans le cas du serment, ajouter : Ainsi Dieu me soit en aide.)

• Marginal note:No penalty for complaint

  (3) A person may not be penalized for exercising the right to make an interference complaint so long as the complaint is made in good faith.

• (ii) le président, le chef d’état-major de la défense, le juge-avocat général et le grand prévôt dans le cas d’une plainte pour ingérence dont fait l’objet un officier ou militaire du rang,

• (iii) le président, le sous-ministre, le juge-avocat général et le grand prévôt dans le cas d’une plainte pour ingérence dont fait l’objet un cadre supérieur du ministère.

Marginal note:Avis — plainte pour inconduite

250.22 Dans les meilleurs délais après la réception ou la notification d’une plainte pour inconduite, le grand prévôt avise par écrit la personne qui en fait l’objet de sa teneur, pour autant que cela, à son avis, ne risque pas de nuire à la tenue d’une enquête sous le régime de la présente loi.

• Marginal note:Avis du retrait

  (2) Le cas échéant, le président en avise aussitôt, par écrit, le grand prévôt et la personne qui fait l’objet de la plainte.