Government aims to bring sexual assault law up to speed with the courts, times

The proposed legislation does not, however, specifically address whether someone, due to being drunk, impaired or a mental disability, is capable of providing consent, instead leaving that up to the courts to decide on a case-by-case basis.

Bill C-51 would also expand rape shield provisions — designed to prevent the sexual history of a complainant from being used against them — to include text messages, photos and other communications of a sexual nature, either from before or after the sexual activity in question.

It would also set up a regime to clarify whether an accused can introduce in court any private records of a complainant, such as diary entries.

The bill would also make it clear that a complainant has the right to a lawyer during rape shield proceedings, and require the judge to inform them of this right as quickly as possible.

During a technical briefing for the media — provided on the condition that sources not be named — a government official said that the proposed changes are meant to codify and standardize what many judges are already putting into practice.

Wilson-Raybould described the proposed reforms as the first major changes to sexual assault law since 1992, when former prime minister Kim Campbell, who was then justice minister, brought in the rape shield provisions.

The bill is also a continuation of a Liberal plan to repeal or update sections of the Criminal Code that have been found obsolete or redundant, including a ban on challenging someone to a duel, fraudulently pretending to practice witchcraft or selling comic books depicting crimes.

It would also clean up sections the courts have found unconstitutional, such as a 2009 change brought in by the Conservatives that prevented anyone who had a previous conviction or breached a condition of bail from being eligible for enhanced credit for time served.

“These changes would help prevent expensive, time-consuming litigation in cases where the outcome can already be safely predicted,” Wilson-Raybould said.

The bill would also require the justice minister to explain publicly why any newly proposed laws — including those outside her portfolio — are compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is something she has been doing for her own bills.

Wilson-Raybould, who has promised a larger overhaul of the criminal justice system that includes sentencing reform such as changes to mandatory minimum penalties, defended the decision to introduce this legislation first.

“Some reforms are going to take longer because they require more substantive engagement around the legal and policy issues,” she said. “That’s not to say that because they’re taking longer, they’re not as important or that this one is more important.”

She introduced another bill to clean up other unconstitutional sections of the Criminal Code — including the statute dealing with abortion — in March.

Conservative justice critic Rob Nicholson said he hopes the efforts to clean up the Criminal Code won’t distract from the job of filling judicial vacancies, which is seen as one reason for trial delays that have been causing cases to be dismissed.

“Get on with the things that you’re supposed to be doing,” he said.

— Follow @smithjoanna on Twitter

Joanna Smith, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously said Kim Campbell was justice minister in 1982. In fact, the last major changes to sexual assault laws were made in 1992 when Campbell was justice minister.

by Canadian Press

Government aims to bring sexual assault law up to speed with the courts, times

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