Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Marginal note:Remuneration

• 696.78 (1) A commissioner is to receive the remuneration that is fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Expenses

  (2) A commissioner is entitled to be paid, in accordance with Treasury Board directives, reasonable travel and living expenses incurred while absent in the course of their duties and functions from, in the case of a full-time commissioner, their ordinary place of work and, in the case of a part-time commissioner, their ordinary place of residence.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (3) A commissioner is deemed to be an employee for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Marginal note:Meetings

• 696.79 (1) The Chief Commissioner convenes and presides at meetings of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Quorum

  (2) One half of the commissioners holding office constitutes a quorum.

• Marginal note:Decisions

  (3) A decision of a majority of the commissioners at a meeting is a decision of the Commission.

Powers, Duties and Functions

Marginal note:Accessibility

696.8 The Commission must ensure that applicants and potential applicants are able to communicate readily with the Commission from any place in Canada.

Marginal note:Outreach

696.81 The Commission must publish information about its mandate on its website and must provide the public, including potential applicants, with information about its mandate and about miscarriages of justice.

Marginal note:Transparency

• 696.82 (1) The Commission must carry out its mandate in a transparent manner.

• Marginal note:Publication of decisions

  (2) The Commission must publish its decisions on its website in a manner that

  • (a) protects confidential information; and

  • (b) is not likely to interfere with the proper administration of justice in relation to a matter that the Commission directs to a court for a new trial or hearing or a matter that the Commission refers to a court of appeal for a hearing and determination.

Marginal note:Policies

• 696.83 (1) The Commission may adopt policies generally for the carrying out of its work and the management of its affairs, including policies respecting its procedures and practices.

• Marginal note:Duty to adopt certain policies

  (2) The Commission must adopt policies respecting

  • (a) the making of applications;

  • (b) each stage of the review process;

  • (c) applications that are made on behalf of persons;

  • (d) the provision of notices and other information to applicants, to their representatives, to attorneys general and to other interested persons, including victims; and

  • (e) meetings of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (3) The Commission must publish its policies on its website.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (4) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to policies adopted by the Commission.

Marginal note:Powers

• 696.84 (1) The Commission may, in carrying out its mandate,

  • (a) direct employees to provide applicants and potential applicants with general information and guidance on applications and each stage of the review process;

  • (a.1) direct employees to notify the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada of the importance of ensuring that applicants and potential applicants do not experience barriers to or exclusion from programs, services or conditional release processes as a result of making an application for a review on the grounds of a miscarriage of justice;

  • (b) enter into contracts in its own name;

  • (c) provide supports to applicants in need, including by entering into contracts with service providers for the provision of those supports; and

  • (d) enter into contracts with persons who have technical or specialized knowledge to assist in the Commission’s work.

• Marginal note:Supports to applicants in need

  (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), supports to applicants in need include

  • (a) directing them to services in their communities for persons in need or helping them access those services;

  • (b) providing them with translation and interpretation services;

  • (c) assisting them, if they are without means, in relation to necessities such as food and housing; and

  • (d) assisting them, if they are without means, in obtaining legal assistance in relation to making an application or providing a written response to an investigation report prepared by the Commission.

Marginal note:Security requirements

696.85 The Commission and its employees must follow established procedures and practices, including any requirement found in a Treasury Board policy or directive, for the secure handling, storage, transportation and transmission of information or documents.

Staff

Marginal note:Public Service Employment Act

696.86 The employees necessary for the proper conduct of the work of the Commission are to be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Annual Report

Marginal note:Annual report

• 696.87 (1) The Chief Commissioner must, within five months after the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Minister a report that contains the following information for that fiscal year:

  • (a) the number of applications received;

  • (b) statistics on applicants that, to the extent possible, are disaggregated by gender identity, age, race, ethnic origin, language, disability, income and any other identity factor that is considered in the course of a gender-based analysis;

  • (c) the number of investigations started and the number of investigations completed;

  • (d) the number of matters that the Commission directed to courts for new trials or hearings;

  • (e) the number of matters that the Commission referred to courts of appeal for hearings and determinations;

  • (f) the number of applications dismissed;

  • (g) the outcomes of matters that the Commission directed to courts for new trials or hearings;

  • (h) the outcomes of matters that the Commission referred to courts of appeal for hearings and determinations;

  • (i) the average length of time between the receipt of an application and the Commission’s final decision;

  • (j) the number of applicants in need who received supports;

  • (k) the amounts paid to service providers under paragraph 696.84(1)(c), disaggregated, to the extent possible, by the nature of the supports provided by the service providers; and

  • (l) any other information on the Commission’s activities that the Chief Commissioner considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Tabling

  (2) The Minister must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 30 days on which that House is sitting after the day on which the report is received.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (3) The Commission must publish the annual report on its website after it has been tabled.

PART XXIIProcuring Attendance

Application

Marginal note:Application

697 Except where section 527 applies, this Part applies where a person is required to attend to give evidence in a proceeding to which this Act applies.

Process

Marginal note:Subpoena

• 698 (1) Where a person is likely to give material evidence in a proceeding to which this Act applies, a subpoena may be issued in accordance with this Part requiring that person to attend to give evidence.

• Marginal note:Warrant in Form 17

  (2) Where it is made to appear that a person who is likely to give material evidence

  • (a) will not attend in response to a subpoena if a subpoena is issued, or

  • (b) is evading service of a subpoena,

  a court, justice or provincial court judge having power to issue a subpoena to require the attendance of that person to give evidence may issue a warrant in Form 17 to cause that person to be arrested and to be brought to give evidence.

• Marginal note:Subpoena issued first

  (3) Except where paragraph (2)(a) applies, a warrant in Form 17 shall not be issued unless a subpoena has first been issued.

Marginal note:Who may issue

• 699 (1) If a person is required to attend to give evidence before a superior court of criminal jurisdiction, a court of appeal, an appeal court or a court of criminal jurisdiction other than a provincial court judge acting under Part XIX, a subpoena directed to that person shall be issued out of the court before which the attendance of that person is required.

• Marginal note:Order of judge

  (2) If a person is required to attend to give evidence before a provincial court judge acting under Part XIX or a summary conviction court under Part XXVII or in proceedings over which a justice has jurisdiction, a subpoena directed to the person shall be issued

  • (a) by a provincial court judge or a justice, where the person whose attendance is required is within the province in which the proceedings were instituted; or

  • (b) by a provincial court judge or out of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction of the province in which the proceedings were instituted, where the person whose attendance is required is not within the province.

• Marginal note:Order of judge

  (3) A subpoena shall not be issued out of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction pursuant to paragraph (2)(b), except pursuant to an order of a judge of the court made on application by a party to the proceedings.

• Marginal note:Seal

  (4) A subpoena or warrant that is issued by a court under this Part shall be under the seal of the court and shall be signed by a judge of the court or by the clerk of the court.

• Marginal note:Signature

  (5) A subpoena or warrant that is issued by a justice or provincial court judge under this Part must be signed by the justice, provincial court judge or the clerk of the court.

• Marginal note:Sexual offences

  (5.1) Despite anything in subsections (1) to (5), in the case of an offence referred to in subsection 278.2(1), a subpoena requiring a witness to bring to the court a record, the production of which is governed by sections 278.1 to 278.91, must be issued by a judge and signed by the judge or the clerk of the court.

• Marginal note:Form of subpoena

  (6) Subject to subsection (7), a subpoena issued under this Part may be in Form 16.

• Marginal note:Form of subpoena in sexual offences

  (7) In the case of an offence referred to in subsection 278.2(1), a subpoena requiring a witness to bring anything to the court shall be in Form 16.1.

Marginal note:Contents of subpoena

• 700 (1) A subpoena shall require the person to whom it is directed to attend, at a time and place to be stated in the subpoena, to give evidence and, if required, to bring with him anything that he has in his possession or under his control relating to the subject-matter of the proceedings.

• Marginal note:Witness to appear and remain

  (2) A person who is served with a subpoena issued under this Part shall attend and shall remain in attendance throughout the proceedings unless he is excused by the presiding judge, justice or provincial court judge.

Marginal note:Video links

• 700.1 (1) If a person is to give evidence under section 714.1 or under subsection 46(2) of the Canada Evidence Act — or is to give evidence or a statement under an order made under section 22.2 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act — at a place within the jurisdiction of a court referred to in subsection 699(1) or (2) where the technology is available, a subpoena shall be issued out of the court to order the person to give that evidence at that place.

• Marginal note:Sections of Criminal Code

  (2) Sections 699, 700 and 701 to 703.2 apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to a subpoena issued under this section.

Execution or Service of Process

Marginal note:Service

• 701 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a subpoena shall be served in a province by a peace officer or any other person who is qualified in that province to serve civil process, in accordance with subsection 509(2), with such modifications as the circumstances require.

• Marginal note:Personal service

  (2) A subpoena that is issued pursuant to paragraph 699(2)(b) shall be served personally on the person to whom it is directed.

• (3) [Repealed, 2008, c. 18, s. 32]