Bill C-16

RULES ABOUT VIOLATIONS

11. (1) A person, ship or vessel named in a notice of violation does not have a defence by reason that the person or, in the case of a ship or vessel, its owner, operator, master or chief engineer

(a) exercised due diligence to prevent the violation; or

(b) reasonably and honestly believed in the existence of facts that, if true, would exonerate the person, ship or vessel.

(2) Every rule and principle of the common law that renders any circumstance a justification or excuse in relation to a charge for an offence under an Environmental Act applies in respect of a violation to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act.

12. A violation that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate violation for each day on which it is committed or continued.

13. (1) Proceeding with any act or omission as a violation under this Act precludes proceeding with it as an offence under an Environmental Act, and proceeding with it as an offence under an Environmental Act precludes proceeding with it as a violation under this Act.

(2) For greater certainty, a violation is not an offence and, accordingly, section 126 of the Criminal Code does not apply in respect of a violation.

14. No notice of violation in respect of a violation may be issued more than two years after the day on which the subject matter of the violation arises.

REVIEWS

15. A person, ship or vessel that is served with a notice of violation may, within 30 days after the day on which the notice is served, or within any longer period that the Chief Review Officer allows, make a request to the Chief Review Officer for a review of the penalty or the facts of the alleged violation, or both.

16. At any time before a request for a review in respect of a notice of violation is received by the Chief Review Officer, a person designated under paragraph 6(b) may cancel the notice of violation or correct an error in it.

17. On receipt of a request made under section 15, the Chief Review Officer shall conduct the review or cause the review to be conducted by a review officer or by a panel of three review officers assigned by the Chief Review Officer. The Chief Review Officer may be a member of that panel.

18. The person, ship or vessel that requests the review and the Minister may appear in person or may be represented by counsel or by any other representative.

19. (1) The review officer or panel conducting the review may summon any person to appear as a witness and may order the witness to

(a) give evidence orally or in writing; and

(b) produce any documents and things that the review officer or panel considers necessary for the purpose of the review.

(2) Any summons issued or order made under subsection (1) may be made a summons or an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province and is enforceable in the same manner as a summons or an order of that court.

(3) To make a summons issued or an order made under subsection (1) a summons or an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province, the usual practice and procedure of the court in such matters may be followed, or a certified copy of the summons or order may be filed with the court’s registrar and the summons or order then becomes a summons or an order of that court.

(4) A witness who is served with a summons is entitled to receive the fees and allowances to which persons who are summoned to appear as witnesses before the Federal Court are entitled.

20. (1) After giving the person, ship or vessel that requested the review and the Minister reasonable notice orally or in writing of a hearing and allowing a reasonable opportunity in the circumstances for the person, ship or vessel and the Minister to make oral representations, the review officer or panel conducting the review shall determine whether the person, ship or vessel committed a violation.

(2) The Minister has the burden of establishing, on a balance of probabilities, that the person, ship or vessel committed the violation.

(3) If the review officer or panel determines that the penalty for the violation was not determined in accordance with the regulations, the review officer or panel shall correct the amount of the penalty.

21. The review officer or panel shall render their determination in writing within 30 days after the day on which the review is completed and, without delay, provide the Minister and the person, ship or vessel to which the determination relates with a copy of the determination and reasons.

22. If the review officer or panel determines that a person, ship or vessel has committed a violation, the person, ship or vessel is liable for the amount of the penalty as set out in the decision.

23. A determination made under section 21 is final and binding and, except for judicial review under the Federal Courts Act, is not subject to appeal or to review by any court.

24. The Chief Review Officer may make rules

(a) to govern the practice and procedure in respect of reviews under this Act;

(b) generally, to set out the work of review officers in respect of reviews under this Act; and

(c) to prevent trade secrets and information described in section 20 of the Access to Information Act from being disclosed or made public as a result of their being used as evidence in a review under this Act, including rules to provide for hearings or parts of hearings to be held in public or in private.

RESPONSIBILITY

25. If a person, ship or vessel pays the penalty set out in a notice of violation, the person, ship or vessel is considered to have committed the violation and proceedings in respect of it are ended.

26. A person, ship or vessel that neither pays a penalty imposed under this Act nor requests a review in the prescribed time is considered to have committed the violation and is liable for the penalty.

RECOVERY OF PENALTIES

27. (1) A penalty constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) No proceedings to recover the debt may be instituted more than five years after the day on which the debt becomes payable.

(3) All penalties received by the Receiver General in respect of the commission of a violation are to be credited to the Environmental Damages Fund, an account in the accounts of Canada, and used for purposes related to protecting, conserving or restoring the environment or for administering that Fund.

28. (1) The Minister may issue a certificate certifying the unpaid amount of any debt referred to in subsection 27(1).

(2) Registration in the Federal Court or in any other court of competent jurisdiction of a certificate issued under subsection (1) has the same effect as a judgment of that court for a debt of the amount specified in the certificate and all related registration costs.

GENERAL

29. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a document that appears to be a notice issued under subsection 10(1) is presumed to be authentic and is proof of its contents in any proceeding in respect of a violation.

COORDINATING AMENDMENT

127. (1) If section 2.2 of the schedule to the Contraventions Act comes into force before section 115 of this Act, section 115 of this Act is repealed.

(2) If section 2.2 of the schedule to the Contraventions Act comes into force on the same day as section 115 of this Act, then section 115 of this Act is deemed to have come into force before that section 2.2.

COMING INTO FORCE

128. The provisions of this Act, other than section 127, come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.