Liberals propose changes to Canada's sex offender registry in response to Supreme Court decision
CTV
The federal government has tabled legislation that, if passed, would make changes to Canada's sex offender registry to specify which categories of sexual offenders have to be added to the national tracking system, while giving judges discretion to exempt those who do not pose a risk of reoffending.
The federal government has tabled legislation that, if passed, would make changes to Canada's sex offender registry to specify which categories of sexual offenders have to be added to the national tracking system, while giving judges discretion to exempt those who do not pose a risk of reoffending.
The proposed changes to current law comes in response to an October 2022 ruling from the Supreme Court that deemed it unconstitutional to require automatic registration of all people convicted of sexual crimes and an overreach to require mandatory lifetime registration for individuals convicted of more than one sexual offence in the same case.
Canada's top court struck down related Criminal Code provisions, giving Parliament one year to respond to the decision, prompting the federal government to go back to the drafting table or risk courts losing the ability to order offenders to register after October 2023. While the national sex offender registry itself was enacted in 2004 with prosecutorial and judicial discretion, the amendments that the Supreme Court took issue with were brought in under the Conservatives in 2011.
Framed by the Liberals as an effort to strengthen Canada's national sex offender registry, Bill S-12 proposes to evolve the registry requirements to remain Charter-compliant by:
Bill S-12 was presented in the Senate by the government's point person, Sen. Marc Gold on Wednesday. The legislation will move first through the Senate and then to the House, proposing amendments to the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, and the International Transfer of Offenders Act.
Included in this piece of legislation are also proposals to gives survivors more options around how their cases are handled, building on recommendations made by the House Justice Committee.
According to the government, these proposed changes include:
