Bill S-12 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act

This enactment amends the Criminal Code , the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act to, among other things,
(a) require compliance with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act for persons who are convicted of an offence of a sexual nature against a child and for persons who have been convicted on separate occasions of two or more offences of a sexual nature;
(b) require other persons who are convicted of, or receive a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder for, an offence of a sexual nature to comply with that Act unless a court is satisfied that doing so would have no connection to the purposes of that Act or that the impact on the person of doing so would be grossly disproportionate to those purposes;
(c) provide that an order to comply with that Act as a result of convictions, or verdicts of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, for two or more offences of a sexual nature that are dealt with in the same proceeding — or an obligation to comply with that Act as a result of convictions, or such verdicts, for two or more offences of a sexual nature — does not apply for life if a court is satisfied that the offences do not demonstrate a pattern of behaviour showing that the person presents an increased risk of reoffending by committing such an offence;
(d) authorize a peace officer to obtain a warrant to arrest a person who has contravened any of sections 4 to 5.1 of that Act and bring them to a registration centre to remedy that contravention; and
(e) clarify the obligations in section 6 of that Act respecting the notice that sex offenders who plan to absent themselves from their residence must provide.
The enactment also amends the Criminal Code to, among other things, codify the process for modifying and revoking publication bans, and add a requirement for sentencing courts to inquire into whether the victim of an offence would like to receive information about the administration of the offender’s sentence and, in the affirmative, provide the Correctional Service of Canada with the victim’s contact information.

Justice

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said several times, serious crimes deserve serious consequences.

Our government has taken action on several fronts to ensure that victims of sexual assault are treated with dignity and respect.

Yesterday, I tabled in the Senate Bill S‑12, which will strengthen the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and will also give victims more powers. I hope that all parties in the House will support it.

This is in addition to other measures we have introduced such as Bill C‑3 and Bill C‑51, which will protect victims of sexual assault.