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Bill C-19

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Conspiracy, attempt, etc.

(2.1) Every person who conspires or attempts to commit, is an accessory after the fact in relation to, or counsels in relation to, an offence referred to in subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an indictable offence.

Jurisdiction

(3) A person who is alleged to have committed an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (2.1) may be prosecuted for that offence in accordance with section 8.

Punishment

(4) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (2.1) is liable to imprisonment for life.

Application before coming into force

(5) Where an act or omission constituting an offence under this section occurred before the coming into force of this section, subparagraphs (1)(a)(ii) and (2)(a)(ii) apply to the extent that, at the time and in the place of the act or omission, the act or omission constituted a contravention of customary international law or conventional international law or was criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations, whether or not it constituted a contravention of the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission.

Definitions

(6) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

``military commander''
« chef militaire »

``military commander'' includes a person effectively acting as a military commander and a person who commands police with a degree of authority and control comparable to a military commander.

``superior''
« supérieur »

``superior'' means a person in authority, other than a military commander.

Jurisdiction

8. A person who is alleged to have committed an offence under section 6 or 7 may be prosecuted for that offence if

    (a) at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed,

      (i) the person was a Canadian citizen or was employed by Canada in a civilian or military capacity,

      (ii) the person was a citizen of a state that was engaged in an armed conflict against Canada, or was employed in a civilian or military capacity by such a state,

      (iii) the victim of the alleged offence was a Canadian citizen, or

      (iv) the victim of the alleged offence was a citizen of a state that was allied with Canada in an armed conflict; or

    (b) after the time the offence is alleged to have been committed, the person is present in Canada.

PROCEDURE AND DEFENCES

Place of trial

9. (1) Proceedings for an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed outside Canada for which a person may be prosecuted under this Act may, whether or not the person is in Canada, be commenced in any territorial division in Canada and the person may be tried and punished in respect of that offence in the same manner as if the offence had been committed in that territorial division.

Presence of accused at trial

(2) For greater certainty, in a proceeding commenced in any territorial division under subsection (1), the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to requirements that an accused appear at and be present during proceedings and any exceptions to those requirements apply.

Personal consent of Attorney General

(3) No proceedings for an offence under any of sections 4 to 7, 27 and 28 may be commenced without the personal consent in writing of the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General of Canada, and those proceedings may be conducted only by the Attorney General of Canada or counsel acting on their behalf.

Consent of Attorney General

(4) No proceedings for an offence under section 18 may be commenced without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.

Evidence and procedure

10. Proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed before the coming into force of this section shall be conducted in accordance with the laws of evidence and procedure in force at the time of the proceedings.

Defences

11. In proceedings for an offence under any of sections 4 to 7, the accused may, subject to sections 12 to 14 and to subsection 607(6) of the Criminal Code, rely on any justification, excuse or defence available under the laws of Canada or under international law at the time of the alleged offence or at the time of the proceedings.

When previously tried outside Canada

12. (1) If a person is alleged to have committed an act or omission that is an offence under this Act, and the person has been tried and dealt with outside Canada in respect of the offence in such a manner that, had they been tried and dealt with in Canada, they would be able to plead autrefois acquit, autrefois convict or pardon, the person is deemed to have been so tried and dealt with in Canada.

Exception

(2) Despite subsection (1), a person may not plead autrefois acquit, autrefois convict or pardon in respect of an offence under any of sections 4 to 7 if the person was tried in a court of a foreign state or territory and the proceedings in that court

    (a) were for the purpose of shielding the person from criminal responsibility; or

    (b) were not otherwise conducted independently or impartially in accordance with the norms of due process recognized by international law, and were conducted in a manner that, in the circumstances, was inconsistent with an intent to bring the person to justice.

Conflict with internal law

13. Despite section 15 of the Criminal Code, it is not a justification, excuse or defence with respect to an offence under any of sections 4 to 7 that the offence was committed in obedience to or in conformity with the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission.

Defence of superior orders

14. (1) In proceedings for an offence under any of sections 4 to 7, it is not a defence that the accused was ordered by a government or a superior - whether military or civilian - to perform the act or omission that forms the subject-matter of the offence, unless

    (a) the accused was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the government or superior;

    (b) the accused did not know that the order was unlawful; and

    (c) the order was not manifestly unlawful.

Interpreta-
tion - manifestly unlawful

(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(c), orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.

Limitation - belief of accused

(3) An accused cannot base their defence under subsection (1) on a belief that an order was lawful if the belief was based on information about a civilian population or an identifiable group of persons that encouraged, was likely to encourage or attempted to justify the commission of inhumane acts or omissions against the population or group.

PAROLE ELIGIBILITY

Parole eligibility

15. (1) The following sentence shall be pronounced against a person who is to be sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence under section 4 or 6:

    (a) imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served 25 years of the sentence, if a planned and deliberate killing forms the basis of the offence;

    (b) imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served 25 years of the sentence, if an intentional killing that is not planned and deliberate forms the basis of the offence, and

      (i) the person has previously been convicted of an offence under section 4 or 6 that had, as its basis, an intentional killing, whether or not it was planned and deliberate, or

      (ii) the person has previously been convicted of culpable homicide that is murder, however described in the Criminal Code;

    (c) 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 for it under section 745.4 of the Criminal Code, if an intentional killing that is not planned and deliberate forms the basis of the offence; and

    (d) imprisonment for life with normal eligibility for parole, in any other case.

Parole eligibility

(1.1) The sentence pronounced against a person who is to be sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence under section 5 or 7 shall be imprisonment for life with normal eligibility for parole.

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 life imprisonment imposed under this Act, and, for the purpose of applying those provisions,

    (a) a reference in sections 745.1, 745.3, 745.5 and 746.1 of the Criminal Code to first degree murder is deemed to be a reference to an offence under section 4 or 6 of this Act when a planned and deliberate killing forms the basis of the offence;

    (b) a reference in sections 745.1 to 745.5 and 746.1 of the Criminal Code to second degree murder is deemed to be a reference to an offence under section 4 or 6 of this Act when an intentional killing that is not planned and deliberate forms the basis of the offence;

    (c) a reference in sections 745.4 and 746 of the Criminal Code to section 745 of that Act is deemed to be a reference to subsection (1) or (1.1) of this section;

    (d) a reference in section 745.6 of the Criminal Code to the province in which a conviction took place is deemed, in respect of a conviction that took place outside Canada, to be a reference to the province in which the offender is incarcerated when the offender makes an application under that section; and

    (e) a reference in section 745.6 of the Criminal Code to murder is deemed to be a reference to an offence under section 4 or 6 of this Act when an intentional killing forms the basis of the offence.

Minimum punishment

(3) For the purpose of Part XXIII of the Criminal Code, the sentence of imprisonment for life prescribed by sections 4 and 6 is a minimum punishment when an intentional killing forms the basis of the offence.

OFFENCES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Obstructing justice

16. (1) Every person who wilfully attempts in any manner to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice of the International Criminal Court is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years.

When deemed to have obstructed justice

(2) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), every person is deemed wilfully to attempt to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice who in an existing or proposed proceeding of the International Criminal Court

    (a) dissuades or attempts to dissuade a person by threats, bribes or other corrupt means from giving evidence; or

    (b) accepts, obtains, agrees to accept or attempts to obtain a bribe or other corrupt consideration to abstain from giving evidence.

Obstructing officials

17. Every person who resists or wilfully obstructs an official of the International Criminal Court in the execution of their duty or any person lawfully acting in aid of such an official

    (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or

    (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Bribery of judges and officials

18. Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years who

    (a) being a judge or an official of the International Criminal Court, corruptly accepts, obtains, agrees to accept or attempts to obtain for themselves or any other person any money, valuable consideration, office, place or employment

      (i) in respect of anything done or omitted or to be done or omitted by them in their official capacity, or

      (ii) with intent to interfere in any other way with the administration of justice of the International Criminal Court; or

    (b) gives or offers, corruptly, to a judge or an official of the International Criminal Court, any money, valuable consideration, office, place or employment

      (i) in respect of anything done or omitted or to be done or omitted by them in their official capacity, or

      (ii) with intent to interfere in any other way with the administration of justice of the International Criminal Court.

Perjury

19. (1) Subject to subsection (5), every person commits perjury who, with intent to mislead, makes a false statement under oath or solemn affirmation, by affidavit, solemn declaration or deposition or orally, knowing that the statement is false, before a judge of the International Criminal Court or an official of that Court who is authorized by the Court to permit statements to be made before them.

Video links, etc.

(2) Subject to subsection (5), every person who gives evidence under subsection 46(2) of the Canada Evidence Act, or gives evidence or a statement under an order made under section 22.2 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, commits perjury who, with intent to mislead, makes a false statement knowing that it is false, whether or not the false statement was made under oath or solemn affirmation in accordance with subsection (1), so long as the false statement was made in accordance with any formalities required by the law of the place outside Canada in which the person is virtually present or heard.

Punishment

(3) Every person who commits perjury is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years.

Application

(4) Subsection (1) applies whether or not a statement is made in a judicial proceeding of the International Criminal Court.

Application

(5) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a statement that is made by a person who is not specially permitted, authorized or required by law to make that statement.

Witness giving contradictory evidence

20. (1) Every person who, being a witness in a proceeding of the International Criminal Court, gives evidence with respect to any matter of fact or knowledge and who later, in a proceeding of that Court, gives evidence that is contrary to their previous evidence, and who, in giving evidence in either proceeding, intends to mislead, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years, whether or not the prior or later evidence is true.

Evidence in specific cases

(2) Evidence given under section 714.1, 714.2, 714.3 or 714.4 of the Criminal Code or subsection 46(2) of the Canada Evidence Act or evidence or a statement given under an order made under section 22.2 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, is deemed to be evidence given by a witness in a proceeding for the purpose of subsection (1).

Meaning of ``evidence''

(3) Despite the definition ``evidence'' in section 118 of the Criminal Code, for the purpose of this section, ``evidence'' does not include evidence that is not material.

Proof of former trial

(4) If a person is charged with an offence under this section, a certificate that specifies with reasonable particularity the proceeding in which the person is alleged to have given the evidence in respect of which the offence is charged, is evidence that it was given in a proceeding of the International Criminal Court, without proof of the signature or official character of the person by whom the certificate purports to be signed, if it purports to be signed by the Registrar of that Court or another official having the custody of the record of that proceeding or by their lawful deputy.

Fabricating evidence

21. Every person who, with intent to mislead, fabricates anything with intent that it be used as evidence in an existing or proposed proceeding of the International Criminal Court, by any means other than perjury or incitement to perjury, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years.

Offences relating to affidavits

22. Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years who, in respect of an existing or proposed proceeding of the International Criminal Court,

    (a) signs a writing that purports to be an affidavit or statutory declaration and to have been sworn or declared before them when the writing was not so sworn or declared or when they know that they have no authority to administer the oath or declaration;

    (b) uses or offers for use any writing purporting to be an affidavit or statutory declaration that they know was not sworn or declared, as the case may be, by the affiant or declarant or before a person authorized to administer the oath or declaration; or

    (c) signs as affiant or declarant a writing that purports to be an affidavit or statutory declaration and to have been sworn or declared by them, as the case may be, when the writing was not so sworn or declared.

Intimidation

23. Every person who, wrongfully and without lawful authority, for the purpose of compelling another person to abstain from doing anything that the person has a lawful right to do, or to do anything that the person has a lawful right to abstain from doing, in relation to a proceeding of the International Criminal Court, causes the person reasonably, in all the circumstances, to fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them

    (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or

    (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Meaning of ``internatio-
nally protected person''

24. For greater certainty, the definition ``internationally protected person'' in section 2 of the Criminal Code includes judges and officials of the International Criminal Court.

Offences against the International Criminal Court - outside Canada

25. (1) Every person who, being a Canadian citizen, commits outside Canada an act or omission in relation to the International Criminal Court that if committed in Canada would be an offence under any of sections 16 to 23, or would be contempt of court by virtue of section 9 of the Criminal Code, is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada.