Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Marginal note:Application for remand for assessment

• 752.1 (1) On application by the prosecutor, if the court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offender who is convicted of a serious personal injury offence or an offence referred to in paragraph 753.1(2)(a) might be found to be a dangerous offender under section 753 or a long-term offender under section 753.1, the court shall, by order in writing, before sentence is imposed, remand the offender, for a period not exceeding 60 days, to the custody of a person designated by the court who can perform an assessment or have an assessment performed by experts for use as evidence in an application under section 753 or 753.1.

• Marginal note:Report

  (2) The person to whom the offender is remanded shall file a report of the assessment with the court not later than 30 days after the end of the assessment period and make copies of it available to the prosecutor and counsel for the offender.

• Marginal note:Extension of time

  (3) On application by the prosecutor, the court may extend the period within which the report must be filed by a maximum of 30 days if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to do so.

Marginal note:Application for finding that an offender is a dangerous offender

• 753 (1) On application made under this Part after an assessment report is filed under subsection 752.1(2), the court shall find the offender to be a dangerous offender if it is satisfied

  • (a) that the offence for which the offender has been convicted is a serious personal injury offence described in paragraph (a) of the definition of that expression in section 752 and the offender constitutes a threat to the life, safety or physical or mental well-being of other persons on the basis of evidence establishing

    • (i) a pattern of repetitive behaviour by the offender, of which the offence for which he or she has been convicted forms a part, showing a failure to restrain his or her behaviour and a likelihood of causing death or injury to other persons, or inflicting severe psychological damage on other persons, through failure in the future to restrain his or her behaviour,

    • (ii) a pattern of persistent aggressive behaviour by the offender, of which the offence for which he or she has been convicted forms a part, showing a substantial degree of indifference on the part of the offender respecting the reasonably foreseeable consequences to other persons of his or her behaviour, or

    • (iii) any behaviour by the offender, associated with the offence for which he or she has been convicted, that is of such a brutal nature as to compel the conclusion that the offender’s behaviour in the future is unlikely to be inhibited by normal standards of behavioural restraint; or

  • (b) that the offence for which the offender has been convicted is a serious personal injury offence described in paragraph (b) of the definition of that expression in section 752 and the offender, by his or her conduct in any sexual matter including that involved in the commission of the offence for which he or she has been convicted, has shown a failure to control his or her sexual impulses and a likelihood of causing injury, pain or other evil to other persons through failure in the future to control his or her sexual impulses.

• Marginal note:Presumption

  (1.1) If the court is satisfied that the offence for which the offender is convicted is a primary designated offence for which it would be appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment of two years or more and that the offender was convicted previously at least twice of a primary designated offence and was sentenced to at least two years of imprisonment for each of those convictions, the conditions in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), as the case may be, are presumed to have been met unless the contrary is proved on a balance of probabilities.

• Marginal note:Time for making application

  (2) An application under subsection (1) must be made before sentence is imposed on the offender unless

  • (a) before the imposition of sentence, the prosecutor gives notice to the offender of a possible intention to make an application under section 752.1 and an application under subsection (1) not later than six months after that imposition; and

  • (b) at the time of the application under subsection (1) that is not later than six months after the imposition of sentence, it is shown that relevant evidence that was not reasonably available to the prosecutor at the time of the imposition of sentence became available in the interim.

• Marginal note:Application for remand for assessment after imposition of sentence

  (3) Notwithstanding subsection 752.1(1), an application under that subsection may be made after the imposition of sentence or after an offender begins to serve the sentence in a case to which paragraphs (2)(a) and (b) apply.

• Marginal note:Sentence for dangerous offender

  (4) If the court finds an offender to be a dangerous offender, it shall

  • (a) impose a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period;

  • (b) impose a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted — which must be a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of two years — and order that the offender be subject to long-term supervision for a period that does not exceed 10 years; or

  • (c) impose a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted.

• Marginal note:Sentence of indeterminate detention

  (4.1) The court shall impose a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period unless it is satisfied by the evidence adduced during the hearing of the application that there is a reasonable expectation that a lesser measure under paragraph (4)(b) or (c) will adequately protect the public against the commission by the offender of murder or a serious personal injury offence.

• Marginal note:If application made after sentencing

  (4.2) If the application is made after the offender begins to serve the sentence in a case to which paragraphs (2)(a) and (b) apply, a sentence imposed under paragraph (4)(a), or a sentence imposed and an order made under paragraph 4(b), replaces the sentence that was imposed for the offence for which the offender was convicted.

• Marginal note:If offender not found to be dangerous offender

  (5) If the court does not find an offender to be a dangerous offender,

  • (a) the court may treat the application as an application to find the offender to be a long-term offender, section 753.1 applies to the application and the court may either find that the offender is a long-term offender or hold another hearing for that purpose; or

  • (b) the court may impose sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted.

• (6) [Repealed, 2008, c. 6, s. 42]

Marginal note:Application for remand for assessment — later conviction

• 753.01 (1) If an offender who is found to be a dangerous offender is later convicted of a serious personal injury offence or an offence under subsection 753.3(1), on application by the prosecutor, the court shall, by order in writing, before sentence is imposed, remand the offender, for a period not exceeding 60 days, to the custody of a person designated by the court who can perform an assessment or have an assessment performed by experts for use as evidence in an application under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Report

  (2) The person to whom the offender is remanded shall file a report of the assessment with the court not later than 30 days after the end of the assessment period and make copies of it available to the prosecutor and counsel for the offender.

• Marginal note:Extension of time

  (3) On application by the prosecutor, the court may extend the period within which the report must be filed by a maximum of 30 days if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to do so.

• Marginal note:Application for new sentence or order

  (4) After the report is filed, the prosecutor may apply for a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period, or for an order that the offender be subject to a new period of long-term supervision in addition to any other sentence that may be imposed for the offence.

• Marginal note:Sentence of indeterminate detention

  (5) If the application is for a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period, the court shall impose that sentence unless it is satisfied by the evidence adduced during the hearing of the application that there is a reasonable expectation that a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted — with or without a new period of long-term supervision — will adequately protect the public against the commission by the offender of murder or a serious personal injury offence.

• Marginal note:New long-term supervision

  (6) If the application is for a new period of long-term supervision, the court shall order that the offender be subject to a new period of long-term supervision in addition to a sentence for the offence for which they have been convicted unless it is satisfied by the evidence adduced during the hearing of the application that there is a reasonable expectation that the sentence alone will adequately protect the public against the commission by the offender of murder or a serious personal injury offence.

Marginal note:Victim evidence

753.02 Any evidence given during the hearing of an application made under subsection 753(1) by a victim of an offence for which the offender was convicted is deemed also to have been given during any hearing held with respect to the offender under paragraph 753(5)(a) or subsection 753.01(5) or (6).

Marginal note:Application for finding that an offender is a long-term offender

• 753.1 (1) The court may, on application made under this Part following the filing of an assessment report under subsection 752.1(2), find an offender to be a long-term offender if it is satisfied that

  • (a) it would be appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment of two years or more for the offence for which the offender has been convicted;

  • (b) there is a substantial risk that the offender will reoffend; and

  • (c) there is a reasonable possibility of eventual control of the risk in the community.

• Marginal note:Substantial risk

  (2) The court shall be satisfied that there is a substantial risk that the offender will reoffend if

  • (a) the offender has been convicted of an offence under section 151 (sexual interference), 152 (invitation to sexual touching) or 153 (sexual exploitation), subsection 163.1(2) (making child pornography), 163.1(3) (distribution, etc., of child pornography), 163.1(4) (possession of child pornography) or 163.1(4.1) (accessing child pornography), section 170 (parent or guardian procuring sexual activity), 171 (householder permitting sexual activity), 171.1 (making sexually explicit material available to child), 172.1 (luring a child) or 172.2 (agreement or arrangement  —  sexual offence against child), subsection 173(2) (exposure) or section 271 (sexual assault), 272 (sexual assault with a weapon) 273 (aggravated sexual assault) or 279.011 (trafficking  —  person under 18 years) or subsection 279.02(2) (material benefit  —  trafficking of person under 18 years), 279.03(2) (withholding or destroying documents — trafficking of person under 18 years), 286.1(2) (obtaining sexual services for consideration from person under 18 years), 286.2(2) (material benefit from sexual services provided by person under 18 years) or 286.3(2) (procuring  —  person under 18 years), or has engaged in serious conduct of a sexual nature in the commission of another offence of which the offender has been convicted; and

  • (b) the offender

    • (i) has shown a pattern of repetitive behaviour, of which the offence for which he or she has been convicted forms a part, that shows a likelihood of the offender’s causing death or injury to other persons or inflicting severe psychological damage on other persons, or

    • (ii) by conduct in any sexual matter including that involved in the commission of the offence for which the offender has been convicted, has shown a likelihood of causing injury, pain or other evil to other persons in the future through similar offences.

• Marginal note:Sentence for long-term offender

  (3) If the court finds an offender to be a long-term offender, it shall

  • (a) impose a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted, which must be a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of two years; and

  • (b) order that the offender be subject to long-term supervision for a period that does not exceed 10 years.

• Marginal note:Exception — if application made after sentencing

  (3.1) The court may not impose a sentence under paragraph (3)(a) and the sentence that was imposed for the offence for which the offender was convicted stands despite the offender’s being found to be a long-term offender, if the application was one that

  • (a) was made after the offender begins to serve the sentence in a case to which paragraphs 753(2)(a) and (b) apply; and

  • (b) was treated as an application under this section further to the court deciding to do so under paragraph 753(5)(a).

• (4) and (5) [Repealed, 2008, c. 6, s. 44]

• Marginal note:If offender not found to be long-term offender

  (6) If the court does not find an offender to be a long-term offender, the court shall impose sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted.

Marginal note:Long-term supervision

• 753.2 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an offender who is subject to long-term supervision shall be supervised in the community in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act when the offender has finished serving

  • (a) the sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted; and

  • (b) all other sentences for offences for which the offender is convicted and for which sentence of a term of imprisonment is imposed on the offender, either before or after the conviction for the offence referred to in paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Sentence served concurrently with supervision

  (2) A sentence imposed on an offender referred to in subsection (1), other than a sentence that requires imprisonment, is to be served concurrently with the long-term supervision.

• Marginal note:Application for reduction in period of long-term supervision

  (3) An offender who is required to be supervised, a member of the Parole Board of Canada or, on approval of that Board, the offender’s parole supervisor, as defined in subsection 99(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, may apply to a superior court of criminal jurisdiction for an order reducing the period of long-term supervision or terminating it on the ground that the offender no longer presents a substantial risk of reoffending and thereby being a danger to the community. The onus of proving that ground is on the applicant.

• Marginal note:Notice to Attorney General

  (4) The applicant must give notice of an application under subsection (3) to the Attorney General at the time the application is made.

Marginal note:Breach of long-term supervision

• 753.3 (1) An offender who, without reasonable excuse, fails or refuses to comply with long-term supervision is guilty of

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or

  • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• Marginal note:Where accused may be tried and punished

  (2) An accused who is charged with an offence under subsection (1) may be tried and punished by any court having jurisdiction to try that offence in the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed or in the place where the accused is found, is arrested or is in custody, but if the place where the accused is found, is arrested or is in custody is outside the province in which the offence is alleged to have been committed, no proceedings in respect of that offence shall be instituted in that place without the consent of the Attorney General of that province.