PDF《TECHNICAL PAPER》

TECHNICAL PAPER Bill C-36, An Act to amend the Criminal Code in response to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Attorney General of Canada v.

Bedford and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act) Department of Justice Canada

2014 Information contained in this publication or product may be reproduced, in part or in whole, and by any means, for personal or public non-commercial purposes, without charge or further permission, unless otherwise specified. You are asked to: exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;

indicate both the complete title of the materials reproduced, as well as the author organization;

and indicate that the reproduction is a copy of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada and that the reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada. Commercial reproduction and distribution is prohibited except with written permission from the Department of Justice Canada. For more information, please contact the Department of Justice Canada at: www.justice.gc.ca. ?Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada,

2014 ISBN 978-1-100-24757-1 Cat. No J2-399/2014E-PDF

1 Technical Paper: Bill C-36, Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act Updated on December 1,

2014 Table of Contents I: Bedford v. Attorney General of Canada.1 II: Response to Bedford: Bill C-36.3 a) Objectives of the Legislation.3 b) Offences: Purchasers and Third Parties.5 c) Immunities: Sellers

9 d) Offences: Community Harms.9 e) Safety Issues.10 III: International Context.12 Technical Paper: Bill C-36 This paper provides an overview of the Supreme Court of Canada'

s findings in its December 20,

2013 Bedford decision and explains the basis for the Government'

s legislative response: Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which received Royal Assent on November 6,

2014 (S.C. 2014, c.25). I: Bedford v. Attorney General of Canada1 In Bedford, the Supreme Court of Canada declared unconstitutional three Criminal Code offences addressing prostitution-related conduct on the basis that they violated section

7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter ). Section

7 protects the rights to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. The offences at issue were: ? prohibition on keeping or being in a bawdy house for purposes of prostitution (section 210);

? prohibition on living on the avails of prostitution (paragraph 212(1)(j));

and, ? prohibition on communicating in public for purposes of prostitution (paragraph 213(1)(c)). The Court suspended the declaration of invalidity for

12 months considering all the interests at stake and recognizing that how prostitution is regulated is a matter of great public concern, and few countries leave it entirely unregulated.

2 The declaration of invalidity would have taken effect on December 20, 2014, if Parliament had not enacted Bill C-36. Application of section

7 analysis to the offences at issue in Bedford The Court found that the three offences sufficiently contributed to increasing the risks of harm experienced by prostitutes such that the offences infringed their right to security of the person. The Court affirmed the application judge'

s holding that the evidence showed that the offences