Criminal Code

Marginal note:Procedure at disposition hearing

• 672.5 (1) A hearing held by a court or Review Board to make or review a disposition in respect of an accused shall be held in accordance with this section.

• Marginal note:Hearing to be informal

  (2) The hearing may be conducted in as informal a manner as is appropriate in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Attorneys General may be parties

  (3) On application, the court or Review Board shall designate as a party the Attorney General of the province where the disposition is to be made and, where an accused is transferred from another province, the Attorney General of the province from which the accused is transferred.

• Marginal note:Interested person may be a party

  (4) The court or Review Board may designate as a party any person who has a substantial interest in protecting the interests of the accused, if the court or Review Board is of the opinion that it is just to do so.

• Marginal note:Notice of hearing

  (5) Notice of the hearing shall be given to the parties, the Attorney General of the province where the disposition is to be made and, where the accused is transferred to another province, the Attorney General of the province from which the accused is transferred, within the time and in the manner prescribed, or within the time and in the manner fixed by the rules of the court or Review Board.

• Marginal note:Order excluding the public

  (6) Where the court or Review Board considers it to be in the best interests of the accused and not contrary to the public interest, the court or Review Board may order the public or any members of the public to be excluded from the hearing or any part of the hearing.

• Marginal note:Right to counsel

  (7) The accused or any other party has the right to be represented by counsel.

• Marginal note:Assigning counsel

  (8) The court or Review Board shall, if an accused is not represented by counsel, assign counsel to act for any accused

  • (a) who has been found unfit to stand trial; or

  • (b) wherever the interests of justice so require.

• Marginal note:Counsel fees and disbursements

  (8.1) Where counsel is assigned pursuant to subsection (8) and legal aid is not granted to the accused pursuant to a provincial legal aid program, the fees and disbursements of counsel shall be paid by the Attorney General to the extent that the accused is unable to pay them.

• Marginal note:Taxation of fees and disbursements

  (8.2) Where counsel and the Attorney General cannot agree on the fees or disbursements of counsel, the Attorney General or the counsel may apply to the registrar of the court and the registrar may tax the disputed fees and disbursements.

• Marginal note:Right of accused to be present

  (9) Subject to subsection (10), the accused has the right to be present during the whole of the hearing.

• Marginal note:Removal or absence of accused

  (10) The court or the chairperson of the Review Board may

  • (a) permit the accused to be absent during the whole or any part of the hearing on such conditions as the court or chairperson considers proper; or

  • (b) cause the accused to be removed and barred from re-entry for the whole or any part of the hearing

    • (i) where the accused interrupts the hearing so that to continue in the presence of the accused would not be feasible,

    • (ii) on being satisfied that failure to do so would likely endanger the life or safety of another person or would seriously impair the treatment or recovery of the accused, or

    • (iii) in order to hear, in the absence of the accused, evidence, oral or written submissions, or the cross-examination of any witness concerning whether grounds exist for removing the accused pursuant to subparagraph (ii).

• Marginal note:Rights of parties at hearing

  (11) Any party may adduce evidence, make oral or written submissions, call witnesses and cross-examine any witness called by any other party and, on application, cross-examine any person who made an assessment report that was submitted to the court or Review Board in writing.

• Marginal note:Request to compel attendance of witnesses

  (12) A party may not compel the attendance of witnesses, but may request the court or the chairperson of the Review Board to do so.

• Marginal note:Video links

  (13) Where the accused so agrees, the court or the chairperson of the Review Board may permit the accused to appear by closed-circuit television or any other means that allow the court or Review Board and the accused to engage in simultaneous visual and oral communication, for any part of the hearing.

• Marginal note:Victim impact statement

  (14) A victim of the offence may prepare and file with the court or Review Board a written statement describing the harm done to, or loss suffered by, the victim arising from the commission of the offence.

• Marginal note:Copy of statement

  (15) The court or Review Board shall ensure that a copy of any statement filed in accordance with subsection (14) is provided to the accused or counsel for the accused, and the prosecutor, as soon as practicable after a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder is rendered in respect of the offence.

• Marginal note:Definition of “victim”

  (16) In subsection (14), victim has the same meaning as in subsection 722(4).