Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act

Contents

Whereas a fundamental responsibility of the Government of Canada is to protect Canada’s national security and the safety of Canadians;Whereas Parliament recognizes that information needs to be disclosed, requested or used in order to enable the Government to fulfill that responsibility;Whereas that responsibility must be fulfilled in accordance with the rule of law and in a manner that safeguards the rights and freedoms of Canadians and that respects the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;Whereas Canada is a party to a number of international agreements that prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;Whereas torture is an offence under the Criminal Code, which Act also prohibits aiding and abetting the commission of torture, counselling the commission of torture, conspiring to commit torture, attempting to commit torture and being an accessory after the fact to torture;And whereas torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals are an affront to Canadian values and are opposed by the Government of Canada in the strongest terms;Now therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

1Short title#

This Act may be cited as the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act.

Definitions

2Definitions#

The following definitions apply in this Act.

appropriate Minister means

(a)with respect to a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, the Minister presiding over the department;

(b)with respect to a division or branch of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to the Financial Administration Act, the Minister set out in column II of that Schedule;

(c)with respect to a corporation named in Schedule II to the Financial Administration Act, the Minister designated as the appropriate Minister by order of the Governor in Council made under that Act;

(d)with respect to a parent Crown corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, the appropriate Minister as defined in that subsection; or

(e)with respect to the Canadian Forces, the Minister of National Defence. (ministre compétent)

department means a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, a division or branch of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to that Act, a corporation named in Schedule II to that Act, a parent Crown corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of that Act or the Canadian Forces. (ministère)

deputy head means

(a)with respect to a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, the deputy minister of that department;

(b)with respect to the Canadian Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff;

(c)with respect to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

(d)with respect to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Director;

(e)with respect to the Canada Border Services Agency, the President;

(f)with respect to the Communications Security Establishment, the Chief; and

(g)with respect to any other portion of the federal public administration, the person designated by order of the Governor in Council to be the deputy head of that portion of the federal public administration for the purposes of this Act. (administrateur général)

mistreatment means torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, within the meaning of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, signed at New York on December 10, 1984. (mauvais traitements)

review body [Repealed, 2019, c. 13, s. 49.2]

Directions

3Authority to issue#

(1)The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister, issue written directions to any deputy head in respect of

(a)the disclosure of information to any foreign entity that would result in a substantial risk of mistreatment of an individual;

(b)the making of requests to any foreign entity for information that would result in a substantial risk of mistreatment of an individual; and

(c)the use of information that is likely to have been obtained through the mistreatment of an individual by a foreign entity.

(2)The Governor in Council must issue written directions in respect of the matters referred to in subsection (1) to the following deputy heads:

(a)the Chief of the Defence Staff;

(b)the Deputy Minister of National Defence;

(c)the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;

(d)the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

(e)the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service;

(f)the President of the Canada Border Services Agency; and

(g)the Chief of the Communications Security Establishment.

(3)Directions are not statutory instruments within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.

4Amendments to schedule#

The Governor in Council may, by order, amend the schedule to add a reference to each deputy head to whom directions have been issued under section 3 or to delete any such reference if the directions that were issued to the deputy head have been repealed or if the deputy head’s position has ceased to exist or has changed name.

Deputy Heads

5Directions to be made available to public#

Every deputy head to whom directions have been issued under section 3 must, as soon as feasible after receiving them, make them available to the public.

6Copy to be provided#

Every deputy head to whom directions have been issued under section 3 must, as soon as feasible after receiving them, provide a copy of the directions to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and, if applicable, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.^note

7Report#

(1)Every deputy head to whom directions have been issued under section 3 must, before March 1 of each year, submit to the appropriate Minister a report in respect of the implementation of those directions during the previous calendar year.

(2)Every deputy head must, as soon as feasible after submitting a report under subsection (1), make a version of it available to the public that does not contain information

(a)the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations or compromise an ongoing operation or investigation; or

(b)that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege.

Appropriate Ministers

8Obligation to provide copy#

(1)As soon as feasible after receiving a report under section 7, the appropriate Minister must provide a copy of it to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and, if applicable, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

(2)The copy must not contain any information that the Committee, the Agency or the Commission is not entitled to receive.

^note

Deputy Heads to Whom Directions Have Been Issued (Section 4)

Amendments not in force

— 2024, c. 25, s. 143Section 6 of the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act is replaced by the following:Every deputy head to whom directions have been issued under section 3 must, as soon as feasible after receiving them, provide a copy of the directions to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and, if applicable, the Public Complaints and Review Commission. — 2024, c. 25, s. 144Subsection 8(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:As soon as feasible after receiving a report under section 7, the appropriate Minister must provide a copy of it to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and, if applicable, the Public Complaints and Review Commission.

Federal laws of Canada reproduced under the Reproduction of Federal Law Order (SI/97-5); not the official version. Source: Justice Laws Website.