Bill C-59
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C-59
Second Session, Fortieth Parliament,
57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-59
An Act to amend the International Transfer of Offenders Act
first reading, November 26, 2009
MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY
90531
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the International Transfer of Offenders Act to provide that one of the purposes of that Act is to enhance public safety and to modify the list of factors that the Minister may consider in deciding whether to consent to the transfer of a Canadian offender. The enactment also amends subsection 24(1) of that Act in the event that the Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act receives royal assent.
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2nd Session, 40th Parliament,
57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
house of commons of canada
BILL C-59
An Act to amend the International Transfer of Offenders Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
SHORT TITLE
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Keeping Canadians Safe (International Transfer of Offenders) Act.
2004, c. 21
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF OFFENDERS ACT
2. Section 3 of the International Transfer of Offenders Act is replaced by the following:
Purpose
3. The purpose of this Act is to enhance public safety and to contribute to the administration of justice and the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community by enabling offenders to serve their sentences in the country of which they are citizens or nationals.
3. (1) Subsection 10(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Factors — Canadian offenders
10. (1) In determining whether to consent to the transfer of a Canadian offender, the Minister may consider the following factors:
(a) whether, in the Minister’s opinion, the offender’s return to Canada will constitute a threat to the security of Canada;
(b) whether, in the Minister’s opinion, the offender’s return to Canada will endanger public safety, including
(i) the safety of any person in Canada who is a victim, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, of an offence committed by the offender,
(ii) the safety of any member of the offender’s family, in the case of an offender who has been convicted of an offence against a family member, or
(iii) the safety of any child, in the case of an offender who has been convicted of a sexual offence involving a child;
(c) whether, in the Minister’s opinion, the offender is likely to continue to engage in criminal activity after the transfer;
(d) whether, in the Minister’s opinion, the offender left or remained outside Canada with the intention of abandoning Canada as their place of permanent residence;
(e) whether, in the Minister’s opinion, the foreign entity or its prison system presents a serious threat to the offender’s security or human rights;
(f) whether the offender has social or family ties in Canada;
(g) the offender’s health;
(h) whether the offender has refused to participate in a rehabilitation or reintegration program;
(i) whether the offender has accepted responsibility for the offence for which they have been convicted, including by acknowledging the harm done to victims and to the community;
(j) the manner in which the offender will be supervised, after the transfer, while they are serving their sentence;
(k) whether the offender has cooperated, or has undertaken to cooperate, with a law enforcement agency; or
(l) any other factor that the Minister considers relevant.
(2) The portion of subsection 10(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Factors — Canadian and foreign offenders
(2) In determining whether to consent to the transfer of a Canadian or foreign offender, the Minister may consider the following factors:
COORDINATING AMENDMENT
Bill C-36
4. If Bill C-36, introduced in the 2nd session of the 40th Parliament and entitled the Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act, receives royal assent, then, on the first day on which both that Act and this section are in force, subsection 24(1) of the International Transfer of Offenders Act is replaced by the following:
Eligibility for parole — murder
24. (1) Subject to subsections 17(2) and 19(1), if a Canadian offender was sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of the Criminal Code, their full parole ineligibility period is 10 years. If, in the Minister’s opinion, the documents supplied by the foreign entity show that the circumstances in which the offence was committed were such that, if it had been committed in Canada after July 26, 1976, it would have been first degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of that Act, the full parole ineligibility period is
(a) 15 years, if the offence was committed before the day on which the Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act comes into force; or
(b) 25 years, if the offence was committed on or after that day.
COMING INTO FORCE
Order in council
5. This Act, other than section 4, comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons
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Explanatory Notes
International Transfer of Offenders Act
Clause 2: Existing text of section 3:
3. The purpose of this Act is to contribute to the administration of justice and the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community by enabling offenders to serve their sentences in the country of which they are citizens or nationals.
Clause 3: (1) Existing text of subsection 10(1):
10. (1) In determining whether to consent to the transfer of a Canadian offender, the Minister shall consider the following factors:
(a) whether the offender’s return to Canada would constitute a threat to the security of Canada;
(b) whether the offender left or remained outside Canada with the intention of abandoning Canada as their place of permanent residence;
(c) whether the offender has social or family ties in Canada; and
(d) whether the foreign entity or its prison system presents a serious threat to the offender’s security or human rights.
(2) Relevant portion of subsection 10(2):
(2) In determining whether to consent to the transfer of a Canadian or foreign offender, the Minister shall consider the following factors: