Reconciliation
If either the person who is making the claim or the person being accused is Indigenous, the provincial court judge should think about whether recommending Indigenous support services would be better than making an order.
S-205
Details
- Full Title
- An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to another Act (interim release and domestic violence recognizance orders)
- First Reading
- November 23, 2021, Parliament 44, Session 1
- Type
- Senate Public Bill
- Full Content
- https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/s-205
Summary
This bill amends the Criminal Code to address issues related to intimate partner violence. It focuses on interim release conditions and recognizance orders. A key aspect is the introduction of recognizance orders when there's a reasonable fear of domestic violence. This allows a person who fears that their intimate partner will cause them or their child harm to file an information before a provincial court judge. If the judge finds reasonable grounds for the fear, they can order the defendant to enter into a recognizance (a type of promise to the court) to keep the peace for up to two years if there was a prior conviction of violence against an intimate partner or child.
The bill also specifies conditions that can be included in a recognizance, such as attending treatment programs, staying within a certain area, or not contacting the intimate partner. Judges are required to consider whether the defendant should be prohibited from possessing firearms and other weapons. If an Indigenous person is involved, the judge must consider recommending Indigenous support services instead of issuing an order.
Further, the bill outlines procedures for bodily substance testing if abstinence from drugs or alcohol is a condition of the recognizance. It sets rules for how these samples are taken, analyzed, stored, and destroyed, and restricts how the results can be used and disclosed. The bill also makes related changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act to include the new domestic violence recognizance orders.
Finally, there is a coordinating amendment that addresses the interplay of this bill with Bill C-21 (firearms). The bill will come into force 180 days after it receives royal assent.
Issues
Security and Defense
Crime
This law makes changes to the Criminal Code to help prevent domestic violence. It lets people who are afraid that their partner will hurt them or their children to ask a judge for a special order. This order, called a recognizance, makes the person promise to be peaceful. The judge can set rules, like staying away from the partner or going to a treatment program. If the person breaks the rules or refuses to make the promise, they can go to jail.
Gun Control
The bill says that judges should think about whether someone who is accused of domestic violence should be allowed to have guns or other weapons. If the judge thinks it is not safe for the partner or anyone else, they can make it a condition of the recognizance that the person cannot have these items. The judge will also say how the person should get rid of any weapons they already have.