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Criminal Code of Canada
The Criminal Code of Canada (long title An Act respecting the criminal law, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, as amended) is the codification of most of the criminal offences and procedure in Canada. Section 91(27) of the Canadian constitution (The Constitution Act, 1867 formerly called British North America Act, 1867) establishes criminal law as under the sole jurisdiction of the federal Parliament. The Criminal Code also contains some defences, but most are part of the common law. Other important Canadian criminal laws are the Firearms Act, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Canada Evidence Act, the Food and Drugs Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Contraventions Act.
HistoryIt was first enacted in 1892. It was based on a drafted code called "the Stephen Code", written by Sir James Fitzjames Stephen as part of a Royal Commission in England in 1879, and influenced by the writings of Canadian Jurist George Burbidge. StructureThe main body of the Criminal Code is divided into the following major components:
The main body is followed by schedules (i.e. appendixes) relating to some of the above-mentioned Parts and a series of proscribed legal forms, such as Form 5 which sets out the proper legal wording for a search warrant. AmendmentsThe Criminal Code has been revised numerous times, including the consolidation of federal statutes that occurred during 1955 and 1985. One of the major revisions of the code occurred with the passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, whose provisions included, among other things, the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults, the legalization of abortion, contraception and lotteries, new gun ownership restrictions as well as the authorization of breathalyzer tests on suspected drunk drivers. The Criminal Code, in its present form, is part of the 1985 consolidated statutes with further major amendments since that year. By means of legal challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, numerous sections of the Criminal Code have been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada as infringing on a constitutional right as defined in this 1982 constitutional document. The offending sections are usually removed altogether, or heavily qualified, when new laws are passed. In other instances, such as Section 287 regarding qualified abortions, the Canadian Parliament makes no move to repeal (i.e. erase) the infringing section from the text of the Criminal Code while such as section remains null, void and unenforceable by the police and the criminal justice system. Before the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the Criminal Code contained almost no specific reference to terrorism. After that event, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-36, the Anti-terrorism Act (S.C. 2001, c.41) which received royal assent on December 18, 2001. This statute added an entire new component to the Criminal Code. Falling between Part II and Part III is now Part II.1 - Terrorism, which contains numerous provisions regarding the financing of terrorism, the establishment of a list of terrorist entities, the freezing of property, the forfeiture of property, and participating, facilitating, instructing and harbouring of terrorism. Related LawsYoung persons, ages 12 to 17, may be charged with offences under the Criminal Code, are prosecuted in much the same way as adults under the Criminal Code, and are subject to the same laws of evidence. However, sentencing, procedure and evidence law are modified to some extent by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. See also
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