OTTAWA, May 1, 2003 - The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and the Honourable Wayne Easter, Solicitor General of Canada, today tabled in Parliament annual reports on the use of two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The Anti-Terrorism Act, a key component of the government's Anti-Terrorism Plan, provides a number of measures to identify, prosecute, convict, and punish terrorists. These include - within carefully defined limits - allowing the arrest and imposition of conditions of release on a person to prevent a terrorist act from occurring. The Act contains many safeguards, including the requirement to produce annual reports. The reports cover a one-year period starting from when the legislation came into force on December 24, 2001.

The Attorney General is required to report annually to Parliament on the use of the recognizance with conditions and investigative hearings provisions. The Solicitor General is required to report annually on the number of arrests without warrant in relation to the recognizance provision. Neither provision was used during the reporting period.

"The Anti-Terrorism Act was carefully developed to ensure that Canadians' rights and freedoms are protected while still providing strong and effective measures to combat terrorism," said Minister Cauchon. "The annual report is an important way of informing Parliament and Canadians about the use of measures that protect their security."

"Although no preventive arrests were conducted, it is vital that law enforcement have the ability to move swiftly and decisively should circumstances warrant. Ultimately, this could save lives," said Minister Easter.

The recognizance with conditions provision allows a peace officer, with the consent of the Attorney General, to bring a person before a judge to impose restrictions on the person's activities, if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such restrictions are necessary to prevent a terrorist act. In exceptional circumstances, a peace officer may make an arrest without a warrant in order to bring the person before a judge to have the application of these restrictions considered.

Under the investigative hearing provision, a judge may order the examination of an individual if it is believed that he or she has information related to a terrorist activity. The consent of the Attorney General is required in order to initiate this process. At the hearing, the judge must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe a terrorist offence has been or will be committed before a witness can be compelled to give evidence. Witnesses have the right to be represented by a lawyer at the hearing and any information that they provide to the court cannot be used against them in a criminal proceeding.

Recognizance with conditions and investigative hearing provisions will sunset after five years, from December 24, 2001, unless a resolution is passed by both Houses of Parliament to extend either or both of these provisions for up to five more years. The entire Act is subject to a comprehensive Parliamentary review within three years of receiving Royal Assent.

• Annual Report concerning Investigative Hearings and Recognizance with Conditions (Department of Justice)
• Annual Report on the Use of Arrest without Warrant pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act - 2002
  

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Ref.:

Mike Murphy
Special Assistant, Communications
Minister Cauchon's Office
(613) 992-4621

Media Relations
Department of Justice Canada
(613) 957-4207

Daniel Brien
Press Secretary
Minister Easter's Office
(613) 991-2874

Communications
Department of the Solicitor General
(613) 991-2800