1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-57

An Act to amend the Nunavut Act with respect to the Nunavut Court of Justice and to amend other Acts in consequence

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

PART 1

1993, c. 28; 1995, c. 39; 1996, cc. 10, 30, 31; 1998, c. 15

NUNAVUT ACT

DIVISION 1

AMENDMENTS TO PART I OF THE NUNAVUT ACT

1. Section 10 of the Nunavut Act is replaced by the following:

Absence or incapacity

10. If both the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner are absent, ill or unable to act or both those offices are vacant, the senior judge, within the meaning of subsection 22(3) of the Judges Act , of the Nunavut Court of Justice has and may exercise and perform all of the powers, duties and functions of the Commissioner.

1998, c. 15, s. 5

2. Subsection 31(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Superior courts

31. (1) The Nunavut Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal of Nunavut are established as superior courts that have and may exercise in relation to Nunavut all the powers and jurisdiction that the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and the Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories, respectively, had immediately before the day that section 3 comes into force.

3. Section 32 of the Act and the heading before it are replaced by the following:

Nunavut Court of Justice

Ex officio judges

32. A judge, other than a deputy judge , of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory and of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is ex officio a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice .

4. (1) Subsection 33(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Deputy judges

33. (1) The Governor in Council may appoint any person who is or has been a judge of a superior court in Canada or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of any province as a deputy judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice and may fix that person's remuneration and allowances.

(2) Subsection 33(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Powers

(4) A deputy judge, while in office, has and may exercise and perform all the powers, duties and functions of a judge of that Court and any reference to a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice is deemed to include a reference to the deputy judge.

5. Section 34 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Exercise of powers

34. (1) If a law in force in Nunavut provides that a power, duty or function is to be exercised or performed by a provincial court judge, a stipendiary magistrate or a justice of the peace , the power, duty or function may be exercised or performed by a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice .

Status when exercising power

(2) For greater certainty, a power, duty or function exercised or performed under subsection (1) by a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice is exercised or performed by that judge as a judge of a superior court.

6. Subsection 35(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Jurisdiction to try criminal cases

35. (1) A judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice has and may exercise and perform, anywhere in Canada, all the powers, duties and functions of the Court with respect to any criminal offence committed or charged to have been committed in Nunavut.

DIVISION 2

AMENDMENTS TO PART IV OF THE NUNAVUT ACT

1998, c. 15, s. 16

7. (1) Subsection 76.06(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Courts excluded

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to courts of the Northwest Territories :

(2) Subsection 76.06 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

Nunavut Court of Justice

(2.1) For greater certainty, the Nunavut Court of Justice has and may exercise in relation to Nunavut the powers, duties and functions of any territorial court referred to in a law duplicated under subsection 29(1).

1998, c. 15, s. 16

(3) Paragraph 76.06(5)(b) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (b) in the absence of an agreement, an order of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories on an application by either office or body made on or after the day that is one year after the day that section 3 comes into force .

1998, c. 15, s. 16

8. (1) Section 76.1 of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

Saisine automatique de la juridiction compétente

76.1 (1) La juridiction compétente - tribunal, juge et juge de paix - du Nunavut est saisie d'office de toute instance introduite à compter de la date d'entrée en vigueur de l'article 3, même si l'affaire a pris naissance avant cette date, dans la mesure où elle relèverait de sa compétence si elle avait pris naissance après cette date.

Juridictions des Territoires du Nord-Ouest

(2) Les juridictions des Territoires du Nord-Ouest restent toutefois saisies, jusqu'à épuisement des recours, de toute instance introduite avant la date d'entrée en vigueur de l'article 3 qui ressortirait aux juridictions du Nunavut si l'affaire avait pris naissance après cette date.

(2) Section 76.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

New trials

(3) For greater certainty, an appeal or review mentioned in subsection (2) includes a new trial ordered and any appeal or review in relation to the new trial.

1998, c. 15, s. 16

9. Section 76.11 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Transfer

76.11 (1) A court, judge or justice of the Northwest Territories may, by order, transfer any matter referred to in subsection 76.1(2) to the Nunavut Court of Justice if the court, judge or justice of the Northwest Territories is satisfied that the transfer is in the interests of the administration of justice.

Transfer - record and materials

(2) If a court, judge or justice makes an order under subsection (1), the order shall provide for the transfer of the record and any material relating to the matter to the Nunavut Court of Justice or to an appropriate officer of Nunavut.

Deemed record, orders or decisions of Nunavut courts

(3) A record that is transferred by an order made under subsection (2) is deemed to be part of the record of the Nunavut Court of Justice . Any order or decision made or document issued by a court, judge or justice of the Northwest Territories in relation to the matter that is transferred is deemed to have been made or issued by the Nunavut Court of Justice .

1998, c. 15, s. 16

10. (1) Subsection 76.12(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Sittings for pending cases

76.12 (1) For any matter referred to in sec tion 76.1 or 76.11,

    (a) the territorial courts, including superior courts, of the Northwest Territories may exercise and perform all their powers, duties and functions in any place in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut; and

    (b) the Nunavut Court of Justice may exercise and perform all of its powers, duties and functions in any place in Nunavut and, unless the laws of the Legislature made after the coming into force of section 3 provide otherwise, in the Northwest Territories.

1998, c. 15, s. 16

(2) Subsections 76.12(2) and (3) of the Act are replaced by the following:

Applicable laws

(2) The laws that apply to a matter before a court when it sits in the other territory under subsection (1) are the laws that would apply if it heard the matter in the territory where it normally sits.

Enforcement of decisions

(3) Any judgment, conviction, sentence or order pronounced or made in any matter commenced in the Northwest Territories before the day section 3 comes into force may be enforced or executed at any place in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories as the court with jurisdiction over the matter may direct, and the proper officers of the territory in which the judgment, conviction, sentence or order is to be enforced or executed may exercise all powers and authority necessary for that purpose.

DIVISION 3

AMENDMENT TO PART V OF THE NUNAVUT ACT

R.S., c. N-27

Northwest Territories Act

1998, c. 15, s. 17

11. Section 34 of the Northwest Territories Act, as enacted by section 77.2 of the Act, is replaced by the following:

Ex officio judges

34. A judge, other than a deputy judge , of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory or of the Nunavut Court of Justice is ex officio a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.

DIVISION 4

AMENDMENTS TO SCHEDULE III TO THE NUNAVUT ACT

Schedule

12. Schedule III to the Act is amended as set out in the schedule.

PART 2

CONSEQUENTIAL AND CONDITIONAL AMENDMENTS AND COMING INTO FORCE

Consequential Amendments

R.S., c. A-2

Aeronautics Act

13. Paragraph (e) of the definition ``superior court'' in subsection 3(1) of the Aeronautics Act is replaced by the following:

      (e) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

1991, c. 46

Bank Act

14. Paragraph (f) of the definition ``court'' in section 2 of the Bank Act is replaced by the following:

      (f) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

R.S., c. B-3; 1992, c. 27, s. 2

Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act

15. Paragraph 183(1)(h) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is replaced by the following:

    (h) in the Yukon Territory or the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice.

R.S., c. C-44; 1994, c. 24, s. 1(F)

Canada Business Corporations Act

16. Paragraph (e) of the definition ``court'' in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Business Corporations Act is replaced by the following:

      (e) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

R.S., 1970, c. C-32

Canada Corporations Act

17. Paragraph (d) of the definition ``court'' in subsection 3(1) of the Canada Corporations Act is replaced by the following:

      (d) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

1998, c. 10

Canada Marine Act

18. Paragraph (f) of the definition ``court'' in section 103 of the Canada Marine Act is replaced by the following:

      (f) the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and the Nunavut Court of Justice; and

1997, c. 40

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act

19. Paragraph (f) of the definition ``court'' in section 2 of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act is replaced by the following:

      (f) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

1996, c. 10

Canada Transportation Act

20. (1) Paragraph (d) of the definition ``superior court'' in section 6 of the Canada Transportation Act is replaced by the following:

      (d) in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court,

(2) The definition ``superior court'' in section 6 of the Act is amended by adding the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (e) and by adding the following after paragraph (e):

      (f) in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice.

1992, c. 31

Coasting Trade Act

21. Paragraph (f) of the definition ``court'' in subsection 16(22) of the Coasting Trade Act is replaced by the following:

      (f) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice, and

R.S., c. C-36

Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act

22. Paragraph (d) of the definition ``court'' in section 2 of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is replaced by the following:

      (d) in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court of the territory, and in Nunavut, the Nunavut Court of Justice;

R.S., c. C-39

Dominion Controverted Elections Act

23. Paragraph (k) of the definition ``court'' in subsection 2(1) of the Dominion Controverted Elections Act is replaced by the following: