Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994

Marginal note:Court order

• 16 (1) If a person or vessel is convicted of an offence, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed and having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order containing one or more of the following prohibitions, directions or requirements:

  • (a) prohibiting the offender from doing any act or engaging in any activity that could, in the opinion of the court, result in the continuation or repetition of the offence;

  • (b) directing the offender to take any action the court considers appropriate to remedy or avoid any harm to any migratory bird or nest that resulted or may result from the commission of the offence;

  • (b.1) directing the offender to have an environmental audit conducted by a person of a class specified by the court at the times specified by the court, and directing the offender to remedy any deficiencies revealed by the audit;

  • (c) directing the offender to publish, in a manner the court considers appropriate, the facts relating to the commission of the offence;

  • (d) directing the offender to pay the Minister or the government of a province compensation, in whole or in part, for the cost of any remedial or preventive action taken by or on behalf of the Minister or that government as a result of the commission of the offence;

  • (d.1) directing the offender to pay, in a manner specified by the court, an amount to enable research to be conducted into the protection of the migratory bird populations in respect of which the offence was committed;

  • (d.2) directing the offender to pay, in a manner specified by the court, an amount to an educational institution for scholarships for students enrolled in environmental studies;

  • (e) directing the offender to perform community service in accordance with any reasonable conditions specified in the order;

  • (f) directing the offender to submit to the Minister, on application to the court by the Minister within three years after the conviction, any information about the offender’s activities that the court considers appropriate in the circumstances;

  • (g) directing the offender to post a bond or pay into court an amount of money that the court considers appropriate to ensure compliance with any prohibition, direction or requirement under this section; and

  • (h) requiring the offender to comply with any other conditions that the court considers appropriate to secure the offender’s good conduct and to prevent the offender from repeating the offence or committing other offences.

• Marginal note:Compensation for loss of property

  (2) The court may also, at the time sentence is imposed and on the application of a person who incurred a monetary loss as a result of the commission of the offence — other than an owner or operator of a vessel that committed the offence — order the offender to pay that person compensation for the loss.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (3) If the amount that is ordered to be paid is not paid immediately, the applicant may, by filing the order, enter the amount as a judgment in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the offender as if it were a judgment rendered against them in that court in civil proceedings.

• Marginal note:Variation of sanctions

  (4) A court that has made an order under subsection (1) in relation to an offender may, on application by the offender or the Attorney General of Canada, require the offender to appear before it and, after hearing the offender and the Attorney General, vary the order in any of the following ways that, in the court’s opinion, is appropriate because of a change in the offender’s circumstances since the order was made:

  • (a) by making changes in the order or the conditions specified in it or extending the period during which it is to remain in force for a period of not more than one year; or

  • (b) by decreasing the period during which the order is to remain in force or relieving the offender of compliance with any condition that is specified in it, either absolutely or partially, or for a specific period.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (5) Before making an order under subsection (4), the court may direct that notice be given to any person that it considers to be interested and it may hear that person.

• Marginal note:Subsequent applications with leave

  (6) If the court hears an application under subsection (4) in respect of an offender, no other application may be made under that subsection with respect to the offender except with leave of the court.