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LCJC - Standing Committee

Legal and Constitutional Affairs

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41-2 41st Parliament, 2nd Session (October 16, 2013 - August 2, 2015)
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Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Issue 11 - Ninth Report of the Committee

Thursday, May 29, 2014

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its

NINTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-394, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the National Defence Act (criminal organization recruitment), has, in obedience to the order of reference of Tuesday, April 1, 2014, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

BOB RUNCIMAN

Chair

OBSERVATIONS
to the Ninth Report of the Standing Senate Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs
(Bill C-394)

The new recruitment offence being added by Bill C-394 refers to a person who ``coerces'' a person to join a criminal organization. In the penalty section, however, there is no mention of someone having been ``coerced.'' The committee believes, therefore, that the word ``coerced'' should be added to new section 467.111(a) of the Criminal Code.

Section 196(5) of the Criminal Code governs extensions of the period within which individuals must be notified that their private communications have been intercepted, when the relevant offence is one of the specified offences, including the criminal organization offences set out at sections 467.11, 467.12, and 467.13 of the Criminal Code. Clause 6 of Bill C-394 amends section 196(5) of the Criminal Code by adding the proposed new criminal organization offence under section 467.111. Under section 196.1(5) of the Criminal Code, the notification period for certain emergency interceptions may also be extended. Section 196.1(5) refers to sections 467.11, 467.12, and 467.13 of the Criminal Code, but not to section 467.111. The committee believes that there should be consistency in the Criminal Code between these two sections.

The committee is also concerned that when a private member's bill is amended by the Senate, the procedures in the other place do not allow for an effective consideration of the Senate's amendments when the original sponsor of the bill is no longer in a position to move their concurrence in the House.

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