Corrections and Conditional Release Act (S.C. 1992, c. 20)

Marginal note:Letters to be unopened

184 Notwithstanding any provision in any Act or regulation, where

• (a) a letter written by an offender is addressed to the Correctional Investigator, or

• (b) a letter written by the Correctional Investigator is addressed to an offender,

the letter shall immediately be forwarded unopened to the Correctional Investigator or to the offender, as the case may be, by the person in charge of the institution at which the offender is incarcerated.

Delegation

Marginal note:Delegation by Correctional Investigator

• 185 (1) The Correctional Investigator may authorize any person to exercise or perform, subject to such restrictions or limitations as the Correctional Investigator may specify, the function, powers and duties of the Correctional Investigator under this Part except

  • (a) the power to delegate under this section; and

  • (b) the duty or power to make a report to the Minister under section 192 or 193.

• Marginal note:Delegation is revocable

  (2) Every delegation under this section is revocable at will and no delegation prevents the exercise or performance by the Correctional Investigator of the delegated function, powers and duties.

• Marginal note:Continuing effect of delegation

  (3) In the event that the Correctional Investigator who makes a delegation under this section ceases to hold office, the delegation continues in effect so long as the delegate continues in office or until revoked by a succeeding Correctional Investigator.

Relationship With Other Acts

Marginal note:Power to conduct investigations

• 186 (1) The power of the Correctional Investigator to conduct investigations exists notwithstanding any provision in any Act to the effect that the matter being investigated is final and that no appeal lies in respect thereof or that the matter may not be challenged, reviewed, quashed or in any way called into question.

• Marginal note:Relationship with other Acts

  (2) The power of the Correctional Investigator to conduct investigations is in addition to the provisions of any other Act or rule of law under which

  • (a) any remedy or right of appeal or objection is provided for any person, or

  • (b) any procedure is provided for the inquiry into or investigation of any matter,

  and nothing in this Part limits or affects any such remedy, right of appeal, objection or procedure.

Legal Proceedings

Marginal note:Acts not to be questioned or subject to review

187 Except on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, nothing done by the Correctional Investigator, including the making of any report or recommendation, is liable to be challenged, reviewed, quashed or called into question in any court.

Marginal note:Protection of Correctional Investigator

188 No criminal or civil proceedings lie against the Correctional Investigator, or against any person acting on behalf or under the direction of the Correctional Investigator, for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of any function, power or duty of the Correctional Investigator.

Marginal note:No summons

189 The Correctional Investigator or any person acting on behalf or under the direction of the Correctional Investigator is not a competent or compellable witness in respect of any matter coming to the knowledge of the Correctional Investigator or that person in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of any function, power or duty of the Correctional Investigator, in any proceedings other than a prosecution for an offence under this Part or a prosecution for an offence under section 131 (perjury) of the Criminal Code in respect of a statement made under this Part.

Marginal note:Libel or slander

190 For the purposes of any law relating to libel or slander,

• (a) anything said, any information furnished or any document, paper or thing produced in good faith in the course of an investigation by or on behalf of the Correctional Investigator under this Part is privileged; and

• (b) any report made in good faith by the Correctional Investigator under this Part and any fair and accurate account of the report made in good faith in a newspaper or any other periodical publication or in a broadcast is privileged.

Offence and Punishment

Marginal note:Offences

191 Every person who

• (a) without lawful justification or excuse, wilfully obstructs, hinders or resists the Correctional Investigator or any other person in the exercise or performance of the function, powers or duties of the Correctional Investigator,

• (b) without lawful justification or excuse, refuses or wilfully fails to comply with any lawful requirement of the Correctional Investigator or any other person under this Part, or

• (c) wilfully makes any false statement to or misleads or attempts to mislead the Correctional Investigator or any other person in the exercise or performance of the function, powers or duties of the Correctional Investigator

is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars.

Annual and Special Reports

Marginal note:Annual reports

192 The Correctional Investigator shall, within three months after the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Minister a report of the activities of the office of the Correctional Investigator during that year, and the Minister shall cause every such report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first thirty days on which that House is sitting after the day on which the Minister receives it.

Marginal note:Urgent matters

193 The Correctional Investigator may, at any time, make a special report to the Minister referring to and commenting on any matter within the scope of the function, powers and duties of the Correctional Investigator where, in the opinion of the Correctional Investigator, the matter is of such urgency or importance that a report thereon should not be deferred until the time provided for the submission of the next annual report to the Minister under section 192, and the Minister shall cause every such special report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first thirty days on which that House is sitting after the day on which the Minister receives it.

Marginal note:Reporting of public hearings

194 Where the Correctional Investigator decides to hold hearings in public in relation to any investigation, the Correctional Investigator shall indicate in relation to that investigation, in the report submitted under section 192, the reasons why the hearings were held in public.

Marginal note:Adverse comments

195 Where it appears to the Correctional Investigator that there may be sufficient grounds for including in a report under section 192 or 193 any comment or information that reflects or might reflect adversely on any person or organization, the Correctional Investigator shall give that person or organization a reasonable opportunity to make representations respecting the comment or information and shall include in the report a fair and accurate summary of those representations.

Confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council

Marginal note:Confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada

• 196 (1) The powers of the Correctional Investigator under sections 172, 173 and 174 do not apply with respect to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing,

  • (a) memoranda the purpose of which is to present proposals or recommendations to Council;

  • (b) discussion papers the purpose of which is to present background explanations, analyses of problems or policy options to Council for consideration by Council in making decisions;

  • (c) agenda of Council or records recording deliberations or decisions of Council;

  • (d) records used for or reflecting communications or discussions between ministers of the Crown on matters relating to the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy;

  • (e) records the purpose of which is to brief ministers of the Crown in relation to matters that are before, or are proposed to be brought before, Council or that are the subject of communications or discussions referred to in paragraph (d);

  • (f) draft legislation; and

  • (g) records that contain information about the contents of any record within a class of records referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f).

• Definition of Council

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), Council means the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Subsection (1) does not apply with respect to

  • (a) confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for more than twenty years; or

  • (b) discussion papers described in paragraph (1)(b)

    • (i) if the decisions to which the discussion papers relate have been made public, or

    • (ii) where the decisions have not been made public, if four years have passed since the decisions were made.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

197 The Governor in Council may make such regulations as the Governor in Council deems necessary for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part.

Her Majesty

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

198 This Part is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada.

PART IVConsequential and Related Amendments, Repeal and Transitional Provisions and Coming into Force

Criminal Code

199 to 203 [Amendments]

204 [Repealed, 1995, c. 42, s. 61]

Prisons and Reformatories Act

205 to 207 [Amendments]

Transfer of Offenders Act

208 to 211 [Amendments]

Department of the Solicitor General Act

212 [Amendment]

Repeal

213 and 214 [Repeals]

References

215 and 216 [Amendments]

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Commissioner remains in office

217 The person holding office as Commissioner of Corrections on the coming into force of section 214 continues in office as Commissioner and shall be deemed to have been appointed under Part I of this Act.

Marginal note:Federal-provincial agreements

• 218 (1) Any agreements made under the Penitentiary Act or the Prisons and Reformatories Act and in existence on the coming into force of section 214, to the extent that they are authorized to be entered into under subsection 15(3) or 16(1) of this Act, shall be deemed to have been entered into under that subsection.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Any agreements made under the Parole Act and in existence on the coming into force of section 213, to the extent that they are authorized to be entered into under section 114 of this Act, shall be deemed to have been entered into under that section.

Marginal note:Temporary absences

219 Any temporary absence authorized under section 28 or 29 of the Penitentiary Act shall, on the coming into force of section 214, be dealt with as if it had been authorized under section 17 of this Act.

220 [Repealed, 2019, c. 27, s. 36]

Marginal note:Definitions

221 In this section and sections 222 to 227,

commencement day

commencement day means the day on which section 213 comes into force; (entrée en vigueur)

former Act

former Act means the Parole Act as it read immediately before the commencement day; (loi antérieure)

former Board

former Board means the National Parole Board established by section 3 of the former Act. (ancienne Commission)

Marginal note:Members of former Board

• 222 (1) A person who, immediately before the commencement day, was a full-time or temporary member of the former Board shall be deemed to have been appointed on the commencement day pursuant to section 103 to hold that office on the Board for a term equal to the remainder of the term for which the person was appointed.

• Marginal note:Former Chairman and Vice-Chairman

  (2) The persons who, immediately before the commencement day, were Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the former Board shall be deemed to have been designated on the commencement day pursuant to section 104 to hold the offices of Chairperson and Executive Vice-Chairperson, respectively.

• Marginal note:Continuation of community Board members

  (3) The repeal of the former Act does not affect the designation of a person who, immediately before the commencement day, was a person designated by the Minister pursuant to section 8 of the former Act, who may continue to conduct, as a regional community representative of the Board, the reviews of the classes of cases of offenders referred to in that section for the remainder of the term for which the person was designated.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (4) A person referred to in subsection (3) shall be paid such remuneration as is fixed by the Governor in Council for each day that the person is performing duties referred to in that subsection, and is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred while performing those duties away from the person’s ordinary place of residence.

Marginal note:Reviews in progress

223 A review of the case of an offender begun under the former Act shall be continued after the commencement day as if it had been begun under this Act.

Marginal note:Parole and temporary absences

• 224 (1) Any parole granted or temporary absence authorized under the former Act shall, on and after the commencement day, be dealt with as if it had been granted or authorized under Part II of this Act.

• Marginal note:Mandatory supervision

  (2) Any person who is at large and subject to mandatory supervision under the former Act immediately before the commencement day shall be deemed, after that day, to be on statutory release under Part II of this Act.

Marginal note:Day parole eligibility of past offenders

• 225 (1) Subject to subsection (1.1), paragraph 119(1)(c) does not apply in respect of an offender who is serving a sentence imposed before November 1, 1992, but the corresponding provisions of the former Act and the regulations made under that Act apply in respect thereof as if they were provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Where additional sentence

  (1.1) Paragraph 119(1)(c) applies in respect of an offender who is serving a sentence imposed before November 1, 1992 where the offender receives an additional sentence on or after that day and, as a result, the offender is deemed, pursuant to section 139, to have been sentenced to one sentence.

• (2) [Repealed, 2011, c. 11, s. 7]

Marginal note:Determination of eligibility date for parole

• 226 (1) Where an offender who was serving a sentence before the commencement day is sentenced, before that sentence expires and after the coming into force of section 743.6 of the Criminal Code, to another sentence for an offence referred to in that section that was prosecuted by way of indictment, and the court determines pursuant to that section that the offender shall serve one half of the sentence imposed by it, that offender may be released on full parole after having served a period of imprisonment equal to the lesser of one half or ten years of that other sentence and, in addition,

  • (a) where the two sentences are to be served concurrently, one third of any portion of the first sentence that is not served concurrently with the other sentence; or

  • (b) where the two sentences are to be served consecutively, the lesser of

    • (i) one third of the first sentence, and

    • (ii) the portion of the sentence that would have had to be served before full parole could have been granted in the event that the two sentences were to have been served concurrently.

• Marginal note:Maximum period

  (2) No offender referred to in subsection (1) is required to serve more than one half of the offender’s sentence before becoming eligible to be released on full parole.