Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, Protecting Victims Act, Combatting Hate Act came into force
The British Columbia Prosecution Service (BCPS) has updated its Crown Counsel Policy Manual to reflect Criminal Code amendments coming into force this week: the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act (Bill C-14) on July 15, and the Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16) and the Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9) on July 18.
“Our government worked closely with Ottawa to secure many of these federal reforms, which strengthen public safety, enhance protections for victims and help hold repeat offenders accountable,” said Niki Sharma, BC attorney general, in a statement.
Sharma explained that the policy changes seek to help BC prosecutors effectively navigate and apply the Criminal Code reforms.
“Crown counsel play a pivotal role in criminal legal proceedings in the province and upholding our justice system,” Sharma said.
Sharma noted that the amended manual also aims to respond to recommendations from Kim Stanton’s review of how the provincial legal system has dealt with intimate partner and sexual violence cases.
“At the provincial level, we continue to implement the Stanton report’s recommendations to strengthen how our justice system responds to intimate-partner violence, while expanding access to justice,” Sharma said in the statement.
The BCPS independently drafted the policy updates. Sharma approved of the efforts of the BCPS “to ensure our legal system more accurately reflects people’s everyday reality, experiences and concerns.”
Protecting Victims Act
According to the federal government’s backgrounder, Bill C-16 seeks to address victim rights, tackle court delays, protect children from predators, and safeguard victims and survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and other forms of gender-based violence.
Bill C-16 introduced changes concerning the following, among others:
- femicide
- coercive control
- sexually explicit deepfakes
- non-consensual distribution of intimate images
- criminal harassment
- the aggravating factor for sextortion
- sextortion of children and child luring
- bestiality depictions
- child sex tourism
- youth recruitment
- invitation to sexual touching
Bill C-16 received royal assent and became law on June 18.
Combatting Hate Act
According to the backgrounder, Bill C-9 defines hatred, clearly denounces hate-motivated crime, and intends to hold offenders accountable.
To keep communities safe from hate crime amid the rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia, the federal government intends for the bill to protect access to places of worship, schools, community centres, and other locations mainly utilized by identifiable groups.
Bill C-9 received royal assent on June 18. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has criticized the federal government’s acceleration of the Bill C-9 study.
Bail and Sentencing Reform Act
According to the federal government’s backgrounder, Bill C-14 aims to improve community safety and trust in the country’s justice system by making bail laws stricter, in response to organized crime and violent and repeat offending, and by making sentencing laws tougher for serious and violent crimes.
The bail and sentencing reforms under Bill C-14 took effect on July 15, following the legislation receiving royal assent on June 15.
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