International Transfer of Offenders Act (S.C. 2004, c. 21)

Marginal note:Eligibility for parole — murder

• 24 (1) Subject to subsections 17(2) and 19(1), if a Canadian offender was sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of the Criminal Code, their full parole ineligibility period is 10 years. If, in the Minister’s opinion, the documents supplied by the foreign entity show that the circumstances in which the offence was committed were such that, if it had been committed in Canada after July 26, 1976, it would have been first degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of that Act, the full parole ineligibility period is

  • (a) 15 years, if the offence was committed before the day on which paragraph 745.6(1)(a.1) of the Criminal Code comes into force; or

  • (b) 25 years, if the offence was committed on or after that day.

• Marginal note:Multiple murders

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), if a Canadian offender who was subject to a sentence of imprisonment for life for a conviction for murder, or an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder, within the meaning of the Criminal Code, received an additional sentence of imprisonment for life — imposed by the foreign entity for a conviction for an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of that Act — the full parole ineligibility period in respect of the additional sentence is established under section 745 of that Act.

• Marginal note:Exception — second degree murder

  (3) If the additional sentence referred to in subsection (2) is in respect of a conviction for an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted second degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of the Criminal Code — and if the offence was committed before all of the Canadian offender’s convictions for murder, or for offences that, if they had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder, within the meaning of that Act — the full parole ineligibility period in respect of the additional sentence is 10 years.

• Marginal note:Credit for time spent in custody

  (4) In calculating the period of imprisonment for the purpose of this section, the time served by an offender includes any time spent in custody between the day on which they were arrested and taken into custody for the offence for which they were sentenced and the day on which the sentence was imposed.

Marginal note:Temporary absence and day parole — persons convicted of murder

25 Subject to section 746.1 of the Criminal Code,

• (a) a Canadian offender who is transferred to Canada — and was sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted murder within the meaning of that Act — is eligible for day parole in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and for an absence without escort in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act or the Prisons and Reformatories Act; and

• (b) their absence with escort may be authorized in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act or the Prisons and Reformatories Act.

Marginal note:Statutory release — penitentiary

• 26 (1) If a Canadian offender is detained in a penitentiary, they are entitled to be released on statutory release on the day on which they have served, commencing on the day of their transfer, two thirds of the period determined in accordance with subsection 22(2).

• Marginal note:Release — prison

  (2) If a Canadian offender is detained in a prison, they are entitled to be released on the day on which they have served, commencing on the day of their transfer, the period determined in accordance with subsection 22(2) less the amount of any remission earned under the Prisons and Reformatories Act on that period.

Marginal note:If eligible for parole, etc., before transfer

27 If, under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act or the Criminal Code, the day on which a Canadian offender is eligible for a temporary absence, day parole or full parole is before the day of their transfer, the day of their transfer is deemed to be their day of eligibility.

Marginal note:Review by Board

28 Despite sections 122 and 123 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Parole Board of Canada is not required to review the case of a Canadian offender until six months after the day of their transfer.

Marginal note:Application

• 29 (1) Subject to this Act, a Canadian offender who is transferred to Canada is subject to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Prisons and Reformatories Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act as if they had been convicted and their sentence imposed by a court in Canada.

• Marginal note:Canadian sentence

  (2) If, before the transfer, a Canadian offender is subject to a Canadian sentence of imprisonment, they are

  • (a) eligible for full parole on the later of

    • (i) the day established in accordance with section 19, 23 or 24, as the case may be, and

    • (ii) the full parole eligibility date established under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act; and

  • (b) entitled to statutory release on the later of

    • (i) the day established in accordance with section 26, and

    • (ii) the statutory release date established under that Act.

Compassionate Measures

Marginal note:Canadian offender

• 30 (1) A Canadian offender shall benefit from any compassionate measures — including a cancellation of their conviction or shortening of their sentence — taken by a foreign entity after the transfer.

• Marginal note:Foreign offender

  (2) The Minister shall take all reasonable steps to inform the foreign entity and the foreign offender of any compassionate measures taken by Canada after the transfer.

Administrative Arrangements

Marginal note:Administrative arrangements — offenders

31 If no treaty is in force between Canada and a foreign entity on the transfer of offenders, the Minister of Foreign Affairs may, with the consent of the Minister, enter into an administrative arrangement with the foreign entity for the transfer of an offender in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Administrative arrangements — mentally disordered persons

• 32 (1) If the relevant provincial authority consents to the transfer, the Minister of Foreign Affairs may, with the consent of the Minister, enter into an administrative arrangement with a foreign entity for the transfer, in accordance with this Act, of a person in respect of whom a verdict of unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder was rendered and may no longer be appealed.

• Marginal note:Consent — provincial authority

  (2) The consent of a provincial authority to a transfer under this section shall take into account the purpose and principles of this Act. Consent to the transfer of a person in respect of whom a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder has been rendered — or of a citizen or national of a foreign entity in respect of whom a verdict of unfit to stand trial has been rendered — is given by the attorney general of a province or, in the case of a territory, the Attorney General of Canada, on the recommendation of the relevant Review Board established under section 672.38 of the Criminal Code. Consent to the transfer of a Canadian citizen in respect of whom a verdict of unfit to stand trial has been rendered in a foreign entity is given by the relevant provincial authority.

• Marginal note:Factors — provincial authority

  (3) A Review Board, in deciding whether to recommend to the attorney general that a person be transferred — and the relevant provincial authority, in deciding whether to consent to a transfer under subsection (2) — shall consider the following factors:

  • (a) the best interests of the person, including their mental condition, the likelihood of their reintegration into society and their treatment and other needs; and

  • (b) the need to protect society from dangerous persons.

• Marginal note:Additional factor — unfit to stand trial

  (4) The attorney general, in deciding whether to consent to the transfer to a foreign entity of a person in respect of whom a verdict of unfit to stand trial has been rendered, shall consider their ability to effectively prosecute the case in the event that the person becomes fit to stand trial.