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Bill C-81

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Third Party Claims

Interest as owner

33. (1) If currency or monetary instruments have been seized as forfeit under this Part, any person, other than the person in whose possession the currency or monetary instruments were when seized, who claims an interest in the currency or monetary instruments as owner may, within 60 days after the seizure, apply by notice in writing to the court for an order under section 34.

Date of hearing

(2) A judge of the court to which an application is made under this section shall fix a day, not less than 30 days after the date of the filing of the application, for the hearing.

Notice to Deputy Minister

(3) A person who makes an application under this section shall serve notice of the application and of the hearing on the Deputy Minister, or an officer designated by the Deputy Minister for the purpose of this section, not later than 15 days after a day is fixed under subsection (2) for the hearing of the application.

Service of notice

(4) The service of a notice under subsection (3) is sufficient if it is sent by registered mail addressed to the Deputy Minister.

Definition of ``court''

(5) In this section and sections 34 and 35, ``court'' means

    (a) in the Province of Ontario, the Superior Court of Justice;

    (b) in the Province of Quebec, the Superior Court;

    (c) in the Provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, the Supreme Court;

    (d) in the Provinces of New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Court of Queen's Bench;

    (e) in the Provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, the Trial Division of the Supreme Court; and

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

Order

34. If, on the hearing of an application made under subsection 33(1), the court is satisfied

    (a) that the applicant acquired the interest in good faith before the contravention in respect of which the seizure was made,

    (b) that the applicant is innocent of any complicity in the contravention of subsection 13(1) that resulted in the seizure and of any collusion in relation to that contravention, and

    (c) that the applicant exercised all reasonable care to ensure that any person permitted to obtain possession of the currency or monetary instruments seized would report them in accordance with subsection 13(1),

the applicant is entitled to an order declaring that their interest is not affected by the seizure and declaring the nature and extent of their interest at the time of the contravention.

Appeal

35. (1) A person who makes an application under section 33 or the Crown may appeal to the court of appeal from an order made under section 34 and the appeal shall be asserted, heard and decided according to the ordinary procedure governing appeals to the court of appeal from orders or judgments of a court.

Definition of ``court of appeal''

(2) In this section, ``court of appeal'' means, in the province in which an order referred to in subsection (1) is made, the court of appeal for that province as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code.

Delivery after final order

36. (1) The Minister of Public Works and Government Services shall, after the forfeiture of currency or monetary instruments has become final and on being informed by the Deputy Minister that a person has obtained a final order under section 34 or 35 in respect of the currency or monetary instruments, give to the person

    (a) the currency or monetary instruments; or

    (b) an amount calculated on the basis of the interest of the applicant in the currency or monetary instruments at the time of the contravention in respect of which they were seized, as declared in the order.

Limit on amount paid

(2) The total amount paid under paragraph (1)(b) shall, if the currency or monetary instruments were sold or otherwise disposed of under the Seized Property Management Act, not exceed the proceeds of the sale or disposition, if any, less any costs incurred by Her Majesty in respect of the currency or monetary instruments.

Disclosure of Information

Prohibition

37. (1) Subject to this section and subsection 12(1) of the Privacy Act, no official shall disclose the following:

    (a) information set out in a report made under subsection 13(1), whether or not it is completed;

    (b) any other information obtained for the purposes of this Part; or

    (c) information prepared from information referred to in paragraph (a) or (b).

Information relevant to a money laundering offence

(2) An officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that information referred to in subsection (1) would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence may disclose the information to the appropriate police force.

Powers, duties and functions

(3) An official may disclose information referred to in subsection (1) for the purpose of exercising powers or performing duties and functions under this Part.

Immunity from compulsory processes

(4) An official is required to comply with a subpoena, an order for production of documents, a summons or any other compulsory process only if it is issued in the course of

    (a) criminal proceedings under an Act of Parliament that have been commenced by the laying of an information or the preferring of an indictment; or

    (b) any legal proceedings that relate to the administration or enforcement of this Part.

Definition of ``official''

(5) In this section and section 38, ``official'' means a person who obtained or who has or had access to information referred to in subsection (1) in the course of exercising powers or performing duties and functions under this Part.

Use of information

38. No official shall use information referred to in subsection 37(1) for any purpose other than exercising powers or performing duties and functions under this Part.

Delegation

Minister's duties

39. (1) The Minister may authorize an officer or a class of officers to exercise powers or perform duties of the Minister, including any judicial or quasi-judicial powers or duties of the Minister, under this Part.

Deputy Minister's duties

(2) The Deputy Minister may authorize an officer or a class of officers to exercise powers or perform duties of the Deputy Minister under this Part.

Regulations

Regulations

40. The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations

    (a) defining the expression ``monetary instruments'';

    (b) respecting the form and manner of reporting currency and monetary instruments for the purpose of subsection 13(1) and specifying the period within which the reporting must be made;

    (c) prescribing an amount for the purpose of subsection 13(1);

    (d) prescribing anything else that by this Part is to be prescribed; and

    (e) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part.

PART 3

FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS AND REPORTS ANALYSIS CENTRE OF CANADA

Object

Object

41. The object of this Part is to establish an independent agency that

    (a) acts at arm's length from law enforcement agencies and other entities to which it is authorized to disclose information;

    (b) collects, analyses, assesses and discloses information in order to assist in the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering;

    (c) ensures that personal information under its control is protected from unauthorized disclosure; and

    (d) ensures compliance with Part 1.

Establishment of the Centre

Centre established

42. There is hereby established the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, which may exercise powers only as an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Minister is responsible

43. The Minister is responsible for and has the overall direction of the Centre.

Organization and Head Office

Appointment of Director

44. (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint a Director to hold office during pleasure for a term of not more than five years.

Reappointmen t

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Director is eligible to be reappointed on the expiry of a first or subsequent term of office.

Limitation

(3) No person shall hold office as Director for terms of more than ten years in the aggregate.

Absence or incapacity

(4) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Director, or if the office of Director is vacant, the Governor in Council may appoint a qualified person to hold office instead of the Director for a term of not more than six months, and the person shall, while holding that office, have all of the powers, duties and functions of the Director under this Part.

Accident compensation

45. The Director is deemed to be an employee for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and to be employed in the public service of Canada for the purposes of any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Director's powers

46. (1) The Director is the chief executive officer of the Centre, has supervision over and direction of its work and employees and may exercise any power and perform any duty or function of the Centre. The Director has the rank and all the powers of a deputy head of a department.

Directions to authorized persons

(2) The Director may authorize any person to act, under the Director's direction, for the purposes of sections 61 to 63.

Employees

47. An employee of the Centre may exercise any power and perform any duty or function of the Centre if the employee is appointed to serve in the Centre in a capacity appropriate to the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty or function.

Remuneration

48. The Director shall be paid the remuneration fixed by the Governor in Council.

Head office

49. (1) The head office of the Centre is to be in the National Capital Region, as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act.

Other offices

(2) The Director may, with the approval of the Minister, establish other offices of the Centre elsewhere in Canada.

Human Resources

Separate employer

50. (1) The Director has exclusive authority to

    (a) appoint, lay off or terminate the employment of the employees of the Centre; and

    (b) establish standards, procedures and processes governing staffing, including the appointment, lay-off or termination of the employment of employees otherwise than for cause.

Right of employer

(2) Nothing in the Public Service Staff Relations Act shall be construed so as to affect the right or authority of the Director to deal with the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(b).

Personnel management

(3) Subsection 11(2) of the Financial Administration Act does not apply to the Centre, and the Director may

    (a) determine the organization of and classify the positions in the Centre;

    (b) set the terms and conditions of employment for employees, including termination of employment for cause, and assign to them their duties;

    (c) subject to the approval of the Treasury Board, fix the remuneration of the employees of the Centre; and

    (d) provide for any other matters that the Director considers necessary for effective personnel management in the Centre.

Political partisanship

51. Sections 32 to 34 of the Public Service Employment Act apply to the Director and employees of the Centre. For the purposes of those sections, the Director is deemed to be a deputy head and the employees are deemed to be employees as defined in section 2 of that Act.