Commissioner's Directive

Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters

POLICY OBJECTIVE

  1. To facilitate the transfer of inmates to and from Canada pursuant to the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act for the purpose of assisting in investigations or testifying in criminal proceedings.

LIMITATIONS

  1. Mutual Legal Assistance may be carried out only between Canada and the countries with which a valid treaty exists, as shown at Annex "A".
  2. For purposes of this Commissioner's Directive, application of Mutual Legal Assistance is limited to inmates as defined in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and to those serving their term of imprisonment in provincial custody pursuant to a federal/provincial exchange of services agreement.
  3. In case of conflict between this Directive and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, the Act shall prevail. The pertinent sections of the Act have been reprinted as Annex "B".

RESPONSIBILITY

  1. The responsibility for implementing the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act and related treaties as they apply to the Correctional Service of Canada, rests with the International Transfers Unit at National Headquarters.
  2. The Security Division at National Headquarters is responsible for arranging transportation and escorts with the cooperation of the region concerned.

PROCESSING OF REQUESTS

  1. All requests for Mutual Legal Assistance shall be processed individually, without delay and on an ongoing basis.
  2. Upon receipt of a request for Mutual Legal Assistance from the Department of Justice, the International Transfers Unit shall:
    1. set the timeframes within which the request must be processed; and
    2. transmit to the institution of incarceration, with copy to the Security Division and the region concerned, the following information:
      1. Name, date of birth and FPS number of the inmate;
      2. Purpose of the request for "Assistance";
      3. Date and place of the prospective transfer;
      4. Expected duration of the "Assistance"; and
      5. Any other information as deemed necessary.
  3. The institutional head shall:
    1. notify the inmate;
    2. obtain his or her consent in writing; and
    3. transmit to the International Transfers Unit in the time prescribed the completed consent form and any information, particularly that of a security nature, which needs to be taken into consideration for the transfer. A copy shall be sent to the Security Division and the region.
  4. The Security Division shall, in the time prescribed, transmit to the International Transfers Unit the names of the escorting officers and the transfer arrangements.
  5. Upon receipt of the required information from the Security Division, the International Transfers Unit shall transmit it to the Department of Justice.

EXECUTION OF COURT ORDER

  1. Where a request for Mutual Legal Assistance is approved and the required Court Order(s) issued, the International Transfers Unit shall transmit the documents to the institution of incarceration, with copy to the Security Division and the region.
  2. The institutional head shall ensure that the escort personnel are provided with the necessary inmate identification and any other travel document as may be required.
  3. The Security Division, in cooperation with Regional Headquarters, shall take steps to ensure that the Court Order is executed as prescribed.
  4. Upon completion of a Mutual Legal Assistance request, the person designated in charge of the escort shall provide a status report to the International Transfers Unit, with copy to the Security Division and the region.

Original signed by
Ole Ingstrup, Commissioner

ANNEX "A" - COUNTRIES WITH A VALID TREATY WITH CANADA

Mutual Legal Assistance may be carried out only between Canada and the following countries with which a valid treaty exists:

In force

Bilateral

Australia
Austria
Bahamas
China
France
Hungary
India
Italy
Korea
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Spain
Switzerland
Thailand
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

Multilaterals

Inter-American Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters

United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Sharing Agreements

Trinidad and Tobago

United States


ANNEX "B" - Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, sections 24 to 29

Transfer of Detained Persons

In this Act, "Minister" means the Minister of Justice.

  1. (1) Where the Minister approves a request of a foreign state to have a detained person who is serving a term of imprisonment in Canada transferred to the foreign state, the Minister shall provide a competent authority with any documents or information necessary to apply for a transfer order.

    (2) The competent authority who is provided with the documents or information shall apply for a transfer order to a judge of the province in which the person is detained.

    (3) An application made under subsection (2) must
    1. state the name of the detained person;
    2. state the place of confinement of the detained person;
    3. designate a person or class of persons into whose custody the detained person is sought to be delivered;
    4. state the place to which the detained person is sought to be transferred;
    5. state the reasons why the detained person is sought to be transferred; and
    6. specify a period of time at or before the expiration of which the detained person is to be returned.
  2. (1) Where the judge to whom an application is made under subsection 24(2) is satisfied, having considered, among other things, any documents filed or information given in support of the application, that the detained person consents to the transfer and that the foreign state has requested the transfer for a fixed period, the judge may make a transfer order.

    (2) A judge to whom an application is made under subsection 24(2) may order that the detained person be brought before him so that that person may be examined with respect to the transfer.

    (3) A transfer order made under subsection (1) must
    1. set out the name of the detained person and his place of confinement;
    2. order the person who has custody of the detained person to deliver him into the custody of a person who is designated in the order or who is a member of a class of persons so designated;
    3. order the person receiving the detained person into custody under paragraph (b) to take him to the foreign state and, on the return of the detained person to Canada, to return that person to the place of confinement where he was when the order was made;
    4. state the reasons for the transfer; and
    5. fix the period of time at or before the expiration of which the detained person must be returned.

    (4) A transfer order made under subsection (1) may include any terms or conditions that the judge making it considers desirable, including those relating to the protection of the interests of the detained person.
  3. For the purposes of Parts I and II of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the Prisons and Reformatories Act, a detained person who is not in the place of confinement from which he was delivered pursuant to a transfer order shall be deemed to be in that place of confinement and to have applied himself industriously to the program of the place of confinement, as long as he remains in custody pursuant to the transfer order and is of good behaviour.
  4. A judge who made a transfer order or another judge of the same court may vary its terms and conditions.
  5. A copy of a transfer order made under subsection 25(1) and of an order varying it made under section 27 shall be delivered, by the competent authority who applied for the order, to the Minister and to the person in whose custody the detained person was when the transfer order was made.
  6. Sections 24 to 28 do not apply in respect of a person who, at the time the request mentioned in subsection 24(1) is presented, is a young person within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act.

 

For more information

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