PART I
CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:
Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms
Rights and freedoms in Canada
1.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such
reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a
free and democratic society.
Fundamental Freedoms
Fundamental freedoms
2.
Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
Democratic Rights
Democratic rights of citizens
3.
Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election
of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to
be qualified for membership therein.
Maximum duration of legislative bodies
4.
(1) No House of Commons and no legislative assembly shall
continue for longer than five years from the date fixed for the return
of the writs of a general election of its members.(81)
Continuation in special circumstances
(2) In time of
real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Commons
may be continued by Parliament and a legislative assembly may be
continued by the legislature beyond five years if such continuation is
not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the members of the
House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as the case may be.(82)
Annual sitting of legislative bodies
5. There shall be a sitting of Parliament and of each legislature at least once every twelve months.(83)
Mobility Rights
Mobility of citizens
6.
(1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
Rights to move and gain livelihood
(2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right
(a) to move to and take up residence in any province; and
(b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.
Limitation
(3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject to
(a) any laws or practices of general
application in force in a province other than those that discriminate
among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous
residence; and
(b) any laws providing for reasonable
residency requirements as a qualification for the receipt of publicly
provided social services.
Affirmative action programs
(4) Subsections
(2) and (3) do not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its
object the amelioration in a province of conditions of individuals in
that province who are socially or economically disadvantaged if the rate
of employment in that province is below the rate of employment in
Canada.
Legal Rights
Life, liberty and security of person
7.
Everyone has the right 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.
Search or seizure
8.
Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.
Detention or imprisonment
9.
Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.
Arrest or detention
10.
Everyone has the right on arrest or detention
(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;
(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and
(c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.
Proceedings in criminal and penal matters
11.
Any person charged with an offence has the right
(a) to be informed without unreasonable delay of the specific offence;
(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;
(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;
(d) to be presumed innocent until proven
guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent
and impartial tribunal;
(e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;
(f) except in the case of an offence under
military law tried before a military tribunal, to the benefit of trial
by jury where the maximum punishment for the offence is imprisonment for
five years or a more severe punishment;
(g) not to be found guilty on account of any
act or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission, it
constituted an offence under Canadian or international law or was
criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the
community of nations;
(h) if finally acquitted of the offence, not
to be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty and punished for
the offence, not to be tried or punished for it again; and
(i) if found guilty of the offence and if
the punishment for the offence has been varied between the time of
commission and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser
punishment.
Treatment or punishment
12.
Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Self-crimination
13.
A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not
to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that
witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or
for the giving of contradictory evidence.
Interpreter
14.
A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand
or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or who is
deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter.
Equality Rights
Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law
15.
(1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has
the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without
discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race,
national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or
physical disability.
Affirmative action programs
(2) Subsection
(1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its
object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or
groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national
or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability.(84)
Official Languages of Canada
Official languages of Canada
16.
(1) English and French are the official languages of Canada
and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their
use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada.
Official languages of New Brunswick
(2) English and
French are the official languages of New Brunswick and have equality of
status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all
institutions of the legislature and government of New Brunswick.
Advancement of status and use
(3) Nothing in
this Charter limits the authority of Parliament or a legislature to
advance the equality of status or use of English and French.
English and French linguistic communities in New Brunswick
16.1
(1) The English linguistic community and the French
linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal
rights and privileges, including the right to distinct educational
institutions and such distinct cultural institutions as are necessary
for the preservation and promotion of those communities.
Role of the legislature and government of New Brunswick
(2) The role of
the legislature and government of New Brunswick to preserve and promote
the status, rights and privileges referred to in subsection (1) is
affirmed.(85)
Proceedings of Parliament
17.
(1) Everyone has the right to use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of Parliament.(86)
Proceedings of New Brunswick legislature
(2) Everyone has the right to use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of the legislature of New Brunswick.(87)
Parliamentary statutes and records
18.
(1) The statutes, records and journals of Parliament shall be
printed and published in English and French and both language versions
are equally authoritative.(88)
New Brunswick statutes and records
(2) The statutes,
records and journals of the legislature of New Brunswick shall be
printed and published in English and French and both language versions
are equally authoritative.(89)
Proceedings in courts established by Parliament
19.
(1) Either English or French may be used by any person in, or
in any pleading in or process issuing from, any court established by
Parliament(90)
Proceedings in New Brunswick courts
(2) Either
English or French may be used by any person in, or in any pleading in or
process issuing from, any court of New Brunswick.(91)
Communications by public with federal institutions
20.
(1) Any member of the public in Canada has the right to
communicate with, and to receive available services from, any head or
central office of an institution of the Parliament or government of
Canada in English or French, and has the same right with respect to any
other office of any such institution where
(a) there is a significant demand for communications with and services from that office in such language; or
(b) due to the nature of the office, it is
reasonable that communications with and services from that office be
available in both English and French.
Communications by public with New Brunswick institutions
(2) Any member of
the public in New Brunswick has the right to communicate with, and to
receive available services from, any office of an institution of the
legislature or government of New Brunswick in English or French.
Continuation of existing constitutional provisions
21.
Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any
right, privilege or obligation with respect to the English and French
languages, or either of them, that exists or is continued by virtue of
any other provision of the Constitution of Canada.(92)
Rights and privileges preserved
22.
Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any
legal or customary right or privilege acquired or enjoyed either before
or after the coming into force of this Charter with respect to any
language that is not English or French.
Minority Language Educational Rights
Language of instruction
23.
(1) Citizens of Canada
(a) whose first language learned and still
understood is that of the English or French linguistic minority
population of the province in which they reside, or
(b) who have received their primary school
instruction in Canada in English or French and reside in a province
where the language in which they received that instruction is the
language of the English or French linguistic minority population of the
province,
have the right to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in that language in that province.(93)
Continuity of language instruction
(2) Citizens of
Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving primary or
secondary school instruction in English or French in Canada, have the
right to have all their children receive primary and secondary school
instruction in the same language.
Application where numbers warrant
(3) The right of
citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to have their children
receive primary and secondary school instruction in the language of the
English or French linguistic minority population of a province
(a) applies wherever in the province the
number of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient to
warrant the provision to them out of public funds of minority language
instruction; and
(b) includes, where the number of those
children so warrants, the right to have them receive that instruction in
minority language educational facilities provided out of public funds.
Enforcement
Enforcement of guaranteed rights and freedoms
24.
(1) Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter,
have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent
jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate
and just in the circumstances.
Exclusion of evidence bringing administration of justice into disrepute
(2) Where, in
proceedings under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was
obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms
guaranteed by this Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is
established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the admission
of it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into
disrepute.
General
Aboriginal rights and freedoms not affected by Charter
25.
The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms
shall not be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from any
aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the
aboriginal peoples of Canada including
(a) any rights or freedoms that have been recognized by the Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763; and
(b) any rights or freedoms that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.(94)
Other rights and freedoms not affected by Charter
26.
The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms
shall not be construed as denying the existence of any other rights or
freedoms that exist in Canada.
Multicultural heritage
27.
This Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with
the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of
Canadians.
Rights guaranteed equally to both sexes
28.
Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and
freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female
persons.
Rights respecting certain schools preserved
29.
Nothing in this Charter abrogates or derogates from any
rights or privileges guaranteed by or under the Constitution of Canada
in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient schools.(95)
Application to territories and territorial authorities
30.
A reference in this Charter to a province or to the
legislative assembly or legislature of a province shall be deemed to
include a reference to the Yukon Territory and the Northwest
Territories, or to the appropriate legislative authority thereof, as the
case may be.
Legislative powers not extended
31.
Nothing in this Charter extends the legislative powers of any body or authority.
Application of Charter
Application of Charter
32.
(1) This Charter applies
(a) to the Parliament and government of
Canada in respect of all matters within the authority of Parliament
including all matters relating to the Yukon Territory and Northwest
Territories; and
(b) to the legislature and government of
each province in respect of all matters within the authority of the
legislature of each province.
Exception
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), section 15 shall not have effect until three years after this section comes into force.
Exception where express declaration
33.
(1) Parliament or the legislature of a province may expressly declare
in an Act of Parliament or of the legislature, as the case may be, that
the Act or a provision thereof shall operate notwithstanding a provision
included in section 2 or sections 7 to 15 of this Charter.
Operation of exception
(2) An Act or a
provision of an Act in respect of which a declaration made under this
section is in effect shall have such operation as it would have but for
the provision of this Charter referred to in the declaration.
Five year limitation
(3) A declaration
made under subsection (1) shall cease to have effect five years after
it comes into force or on such earlier date as may be specified in the
declaration.
Re-enactment
(4) Parliament or the legislature of a province may re-enact a declaration made under subsection (1).
Five year limitation
(5) Subsection (3) applies in respect of a re-enactment made under subsection (4).
Citation
Citation
34.
This Part may be cited as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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