Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Transfer of Offenders Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Canadian offender

délinquant canadien

Canadian offender means a Canadian citizen, within the meaning of the Citizenship Act, irrespective of age, who has been found guilty of an offence and is subject to supervision either in confinement or at large by reason of parole, probation or any other form of supervision without confinement, in a foreign state; (délinquant canadien)

criminal offence

infraction criminelle

criminal offence means an offence against an Act of Parliament; (infraction criminelle)

foreign offender

délinquant étranger

foreign offender means a citizen or a national of a foreign state, irrespective of age, who has been found guilty of a criminal offence and is subject to supervision either in confinement or at large by reason of parole, probation or any other form of supervision without confinement, in Canada; (délinquant étranger)

foreign state

État étranger

foreign state means a state, the name of which is set out in the schedule, with which Canada has entered into a treaty on the transfer of offenders; (État étranger)

Minister

ministre

Minister means the Solicitor General of Canada; (ministre)

penitentiary

pénitencier

penitentiary has the meaning assigned to that term by Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act; (pénitencier)

prison

prison

prison means a place of confinement other than a penitentiary; (prison)

treaty

traités

treaty includes an international agreement, arrangement or convention. (traités)

Transfer of Canadian Offenders to Canada

Marginal note:Transfer

3 A Canadian offender who requests transfer to Canada pursuant to a treaty on the transfer of offenders entered into between Canada and the foreign state in which he was found guilty shall be dealt with in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Effect of transfer

4 Where a Canadian offender is transferred to Canada, his finding of guilt and sentence, if any, by a court of the foreign state from which he is transferred is deemed to be a finding of guilt and a sentence imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction in Canada for a criminal offence.

Marginal note:Section 690 of the Criminal Code not applicable

• 5 (1) Section 690 of the Criminal Code does not apply in respect of the offence of which a Canadian offender has been found guilty in the foreign state from which he is transferred and the offender’s finding of guilt and sentence, if any, are not subject to any appeal or to any other form of review in Canada.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (2) On the transfer of a Canadian offender, documents supplied by the foreign state from which the offender is transferred setting out the finding of guilt and, where the offender has been sentenced, the sentence imposed are, if they purport to be signed by a judicial official or director of a place of confinement of the foreign state, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, evidence of the facts alleged therein without proof of the signature or official character of the person by whom they purport to be signed.

Marginal note:Transfer

• 6 (1) Where the Minister is informed on behalf of a foreign state that a Canadian offender has requested transfer to Canada and that the responsible authority in that state agrees to the transfer, the Minister shall cause the foreign state to be advised whether he approves or disapproves the transfer of the offender and, where he approves the transfer, he shall make the necessary arrangements therefor.

• Marginal note:Approval of a province

  (2) Notwithstanding any regulation made pursuant to paragraph 24(a.1), where a Canadian offender who has requested transfer to Canada has been sentenced to imprisonment for less than two years, the Minister shall not approve the transfer unless

  • (a) the authority responsible for the administration of prisons in the province in which the Canadian offender would be detained agrees to the transfer; and

  • (b) the Canadian offender completes the prescribed form.

Transfer of Canadian Offenders Undergoing Imprisonment

Marginal note:Where committed

7 A Canadian offender transferred to Canada while undergoing imprisonment shall be detained in a penitentiary if he has been sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more or in a prison in any other case.

Marginal note:Eligibility for parole — general

8 Subject to section 9, a Canadian offender transferred to Canada becomes eligible for parole at a date determined pursuant to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act as being the date at which the offender would have been eligible for parole had the offender been convicted and the sentence imposed by a court in Canada.

Marginal note:Eligibility for parole, murder cases

9 A Canadian offender who has been sentenced to imprisonment for life for the conviction of an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of section 229 or 230 of the Criminal Code and who is transferred to Canada becomes eligible for parole when ten years have elapsed after his conviction unless the documents supplied by the foreign state in which the offender was convicted and sentenced show to the satisfaction of the Minister that the circumstances in which the offence was committed were such that, if it had been committed in Canada after July 26, 1976, it would have been first degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of the Criminal Code, in which case the offender becomes eligible for parole when fifteen years have elapsed after his conviction.

Marginal note:Temporary absence and day parole for murderers

10 A Canadian offender transferred to Canada who was convicted of an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of section 229 or 230 of the Criminal Code may not be granted

• (a) day parole under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act,

• (b) an absence without escort under that Act or the Prisons and Reformatories Act, or

• (c) an absence with escort for other than medical reasons under either of those Acts that has not been approved by the National Parole Board,

until the expiration of all but three years of the period during which the offender is ineligible for parole.

Marginal note:Crediting for time toward completion

11 A Canadian offender transferred to Canada shall, at the date of the transfer, be credited with any time toward completion of a sentence imposed by a court of a foreign state that, at that date, had actually been spent in confinement in the foreign state or that was credited, by the foreign state, towards completion of the sentence.

Marginal note:Calculation of statutory release

• 11.1 (1) Where a Canadian offender transferred to Canada is detained in a penitentiary, the offender is entitled to be released on statutory release on the day on which the offender has served the portion of the sentence that remains to be served after deducting the portion of the sentence with which the offender was credited in accordance with section 11 less

  • (a) any credits, given by the foreign state, towards release before the expiration of the sentence; and

  • (b) one third of the portion of the sentence that remains to be served after deducting the portion referred to in paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a Canadian offender transferred to Canada is detained in a prison, the offender is entitled to be released on the day on which the offender has served the portion of the sentence that remains to be served after deducting the portion with which the offender was credited in accordance with section 11 less

  • (a) any credits, given by the foreign state, towards release before the expiration of the sentence;

  • (b) the amount of any remission granted, pursuant to the Prisons and Reformatories Act, on the portion of the sentence that remains to be served after deducting the portion referred to in paragraph (a).

Marginal note:Application

12 Subject to sections 11 and 11.1, a Canadian offender transferred to Canada is subject to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act or the Prisons and Reformatories Act, as the case may be, as if the offender had been convicted and the sentence imposed by a court in Canada.

Transfer of Canadian Offenders on Parole

Marginal note:Jurisdiction of National Parole Board

13 Subject to section 15, the National Parole Board has jurisdiction over Canadian offenders transferred to Canada.

Marginal note:Effect of revocation

14 Where the parole granted by a foreign state to a Canadian offender who is transferred to Canada is revoked, he is entitled to count toward completion of his sentence any time spent on parole after October 14, 1977 and immediately prior to his transfer to Canada, in the foreign state from which he was transferred.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction of provincial parole boards

15 A provincial parole board has jurisdiction over a Canadian offender transferred to Canada

• (a) who is not on parole at the time of his transfer; and

• (b) who is detained in a provincial institution where that parole board has jurisdiction over other prisoners.

Transfer of Canadian Offenders on Probation or Equivalent

Marginal note:Probation order

• 16 (1) Where a Canadian offender is transferred to Canada while at large under conditions equivalent to those that would prevail if he had been found guilty in Canada and released on conditions prescribed in a probation order,

  • (a) a provincial court judge, within the meaning of that term for the purposes of Part XIX of the Criminal Code, may, on application of the Canadian offender or of the Attorney General of the province in which the offender resides, modify the conditions on which the offender is entitled to be at large in Canada in any manner provided by subsection 732.2(3) of the Criminal Code as if he were subject to a probation order; and

  • (b) a wilful contravention of the conditions on which he is entitled to be at large is an offence under subsection 733.1(1) of the Criminal Code.

• Marginal note:Powers of the court

  (2) On conviction of a Canadian offender of an offence under subsection 733.1(1) of the Criminal Code, the convicting court may, if the offender was transferred to Canada while at large under circumstances equivalent to those that would prevail if he had been found guilty in Canada and released on conditions prescribed in a probation order,

  • (a) if it imposes imprisonment, revoke the entitlement of the Canadian offender to be at large, or

  • (b) make changes in or additions to the conditions on which the offender is entitled to be at large or extend the application of those conditions for a further period not exceeding one year,

  and shall inform the offender of its decision.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) Subsection 732.2(5) of the Criminal Code does not apply to a Canadian offender transferred to Canada while at large under conditions equivalent to those that would prevail if the offender had been found guilty in Canada and released on conditions prescribed in a probation order.

Young Offenders

Marginal note:Committal of young offenders

17 Where a Canadian offender transferred to Canada

• (a) is committed to a prison in a province, and

• (b) was, at the time of the commission of the offence of which he or she was convicted, a young person within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act,

an official designated for the purpose by the lieutenant governor in council of the province where the offender is detained may transfer the offender to a place or facility in which a young person may be committed to open custody or secure custody, within the meaning of section 24 of the Young Offenders Act, but no person so transferred shall be detained by reason only of the sentence imposed by the foreign court beyond the date on which that sentence would terminate.

Pardon

Marginal note:Pardon

18 Where a foreign state has exercised the power to pardon a Canadian offender transferred to Canada, that offender shall no longer be subject to incarceration or other form of supervision by reason only of the sentence imposed for the offence in respect of which the pardon was granted.

Transfer of Foreign Offenders from Canada

Marginal note:Transfer

19 A foreign offender may request transfer to a foreign state by applying to the Minister and may be transferred if the conditions set out in this Act are met.

Marginal note:Obligation to provide information

20 The Minister shall, on request by a foreign offender, provide him with a copy of the treaty on the transfer of offenders entered into between Canada and a foreign state designated in the request.

Marginal note:Delivery

21 Where the transfer of a foreign offender to a foreign state has been approved by the parties concerned, he shall be delivered to the responsible authority designated by that foreign state.

Marginal note:Transfer from prisons

22 No foreign offender may be transferred from a prison in a province to a foreign state without the approval of the authority responsible in the province for the administration of prisons.

Marginal note:Schedule

23 The Governor in Council may, by order, amend the schedule by adding to it or deleting from it the name of any foreign state that has entered into a treaty with Canada on the transfer of offenders or with respect to which such a treaty has been terminated.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

24 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) prescribing the form and manner in which a foreign offender may apply to the Minister for transfer to a foreign state;

• (a.1) prescribing the considerations that the Minister must take into account in deciding to approve or disapprove the transfer of a Canadian offender to Canada;

• (b) prescribing the form to be completed by a Canadian offender who, if transferred to Canada, will be detained in a prison; and

• (c) generally, for the carrying out of the purposes of this Act.

25 [Repealed, 1993, c. 34, s. 124]