Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Marginal note:Torture

• 269.1 (1) Every official, or every person acting at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of an official, who inflicts torture on any other person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (2) For the purposes of this section,

  official

  official means

  • (a) a peace officer,

  • (b) a public officer,

  • (c) a member of the Canadian Forces, or

  • (d) any person who may exercise powers, pursuant to a law in force in a foreign state, that would, in Canada, be exercised by a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), or (c),

  whether the person exercises powers in Canada or outside Canada; (fonctionnaire)

  torture

  torture means any act or omission by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person

  • (a) for a purpose including

    • (i) obtaining from the person or from a third person information or a statement,

    • (ii) punishing the person for an act that the person or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, and

    • (iii) intimidating or coercing the person or a third person, or

  • (b) for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,

  but does not include any act or omission arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. (torture)

• Marginal note:No defence

  (3) It is no defence to a charge under this section that the accused was ordered by a superior or a public authority to perform the act or omission that forms the subject-matter of the charge or that the act or omission is alleged to have been justified by exceptional circumstances, including a state of war, a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) In any proceedings over which Parliament has jurisdiction, any statement obtained as a result of the commission of an offence under this section is inadmissible in evidence, except as evidence that the statement was so obtained.