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Bill C-277

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2nd Session, 37th Parliament,
51 Elizabeth II, 2002

House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-277

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (taking samples of bodily substances)

R.S., c. C-46

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

1. (1) Section 254 of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

Samples of urine or breath where reasonable belief of commission of offence under paragraph 249(1)(a)

(3.1) Where a peace officer believes on reasonable and probable grounds that a person, at any time within the preceding four hours, has committed an offence under paragraph 249(1)(a) and thereby caused the death of any other person, the peace officer shall, by demand made to that person forthwith or as soon as practicable, require that person to provide as soon thereafter as is practicable such samples of the urine of the person as in the opinion of a qualified technician are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made in order to determine the presence, if any, of drugs in the person's urine, and

    (a) such samples of the person's breath as in the opinion of a qualified technician are necessary, or

    (b) where the peace officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that, by reason of any physical condition of the person,

      (i) the person may be incapable of providing a sample of his breath, or

      (ii) it would be impracticable to obtain a sample of the person's breath,

    such samples of the person's blood, under the conditions referred to in subsection (4), as in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples are necessary to enable proper analysis to be made in order to determine the concentration, if any, of alcohol in the person's blood, and to accompany the peace officer for the purpose of enabling such samples to be taken.

(2) Subsection 254(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Exception

(4) Samples of blood may only be taken from a person pursuant to a demand made by a peace officer under subsection (3) or (3.1) if the samples are taken by or under the direction of a qualified medical practitioner and the qualified medical practitioner is satisfied that the taking of those samples would not endanger the life or health of the person.

(3) Subsection 254(6) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Only one conviction for failure to comply with demand

(6) A person who is convicted of an offence committed under subsection (5) for a failure or refusal to comply with a demand made under subsection (2), paragraph (3)(a) or (b) or subsection (3.1) in respect of any transaction may not be convicted of another offence committed under subsection (5) in respect of the same transaction.

2. (1) Section 256 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

Warrants to obtain blood samples

(1.1) Subject to subsection (2), if a justice is satisfied, on an information on oath in Form 1 or on an information on oath submitted to the justice under section 487.1 by telephone or other means of telecommunication, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that

    (a) a person has, within the preceding four hours, committed an offence under paragraph 249(1)(a) and thereby caused the death of another person, and

    (b) a qualified medical practitioner is of the opinion that

      (i) by reason of any physical or mental condition of the person, the person is unable to consent to the taking of samples of his or her blood, and

      (ii) the taking of samples of blood from the person would not endanger the life or health of the person,

the justice may issue a warrant authorizing a peace officer to require a qualified medical practitioner to take, or to cause to be taken by a qualified technician under the direction of the qualified medical practitioner, the samples of the blood of the person that in the opinion of the person taking the samples are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made in order to determine the concentration, if any, of alcohol or drugs in the person's blood.

(2) Subsection 256(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Form

(2) A warrant issued pursuant to subsection (1) or (1.1) may be in Form 5 or 5.1 varied to suit the case.

(3) Section 256 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):

Duration of warrant

(4.1) Samples of blood may be taken from a person pursuant to a warrant issued pursuant to subsection (1.1) only during such time as a qualified medical practitioner is satisfied that the conditions referred to in subparagraphs (1.1)(b)(i) and (ii) continue to exist in respect of that person.

(4) Subsection 256(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Facsimile to person

(5) Where a warrant issued pursuant to subsection (1) or (1.1) is executed, the peace officer shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, give a copy or, in the case of a warrant issued by telephone or other means of telecommunication, a facsimile of the warrant to the person from whom the blood samples were taken.

3. (1) The portion of subsection 258(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Proceedings under paragraph 249(1)(a) or section 255

258. (1) In any proceedings under paragraph 249(1)(a) or under subsection 255(1) in respect of an offence committed under section 253 or in any proceedings under subsection 255(2) or (3), the following rules apply, with the exception of the rule referred to in paragraph (a) in respect of proceedings commenced under paragraph 249(1)(a),

(2) Paragraph 258(1)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (b) the result of an analysis of a sample of the breath, urine or blood of the accused (other than a sample taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3) or (3.1) ) or other bodily substance of the accused may be admitted in evidence notwithstanding that, before the accused gave the sample, he was not warned that he need not give the sample or that the result of the analysis of the sample might be used in evidence;

(3) The portion of paragraph 258(1)(c) of the Act before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

    (c) where samples of the breath of the accused have been taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3) or (3.1) , if

(4) The portion of paragraph 258(1)(d) of the Act before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

    (d) where a sample of the blood of the accused has been taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3) or (3.1) or otherwise with the consent of the accused or pursuant to a warrant issued under section 256, if

(5) The portion of paragraph 258(1)(g) of the Act before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

    (g) where samples of the breath of the accused have been taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3) or (3.1) , a certificate of a qualified technician stating

(6) The portion of paragraph 258(1)(h) of the Act before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

    (h) where a sample of the blood of the accused has been taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3) or (3.1) or otherwise with the consent of the accused or pursuant to a warrant issued under section 256,

(7) Subsections 258(2) and (3) of the Act are replaced by the following:

No obligation to give sample except as required under section 254

(2) No person is required to give a sample of a bodily substance for analysis for the purposes of this section except urine, breath or blood as required under section 254, and evidence that a person failed or refused to give such a sample or that such a sample was not taken is not admissible nor shall such a failure or refusal or the fact that a sample was not taken be the subject of comment by any person in the proceedings.

Evidence of failure to comply with a demand

(3) In any proceedings under paragraph 249(1)(a) or subsection 255(1) in respect of an offence committed under paragraph 253(a) or in any proceedings under subsection 255(2) or (3), evidence that the accused, without reasonable excuse, failed or refused to comply with a demand made to him by a peace officer under section 254 is admissible and the court may draw an inference therefrom adverse to the accused.

(8) Section 258 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):

Testing urine for presence of drugs

(4.1) Where a sample of urine of an accused has been taken pursuant to a demand made under subsection 254(3.1) or otherwise with the consent of the accused, the sample may be tested for the presence of drugs in the urine of the accused.

Release of specimen for testing

(4.2) A judge of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction or a court of criminal jurisdiction shall, on the summary application of the accused made within six months from the day on which a sample of the urine of the accused was taken, order release of a sample of the urine sample for the purpose of an examination or analysis thereof, subject to such terms as appear to be necessary or desirable to ensure the safeguarding of the sample and its preservation for use in any proceedings in respect of which it was retained.