Parliament Passes Legislation to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
OTTAWA, May 21, 2013 - The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today welcomed the passing in Parliament of the Nuclear Terrorism Act. The legislation will help keep our streets and communities safe by strengthening the Criminal Code in order to combat nuclear terrorism.
“Our Government recognizes the importance of combating and preventing the serious global threat of nuclear terrorism,”
said Minister Nicholson. “This legislation will improve our existing approach to counter-terrorism by punishing those who aspire to commit acts of nuclear terrorism.”
The legislation amends the Criminal Code to create a number of new offences related to nuclear terrorism, including:
- Making a device, or possessing or trafficking nuclear or radioactive material or a device, or committing an act against a nuclear facility or its operations, with the intent to cause death, serious bodily harm or substantial damage to property or the environment;
- using or altering nuclear or radioactive material or a device, or committing an act against a nuclear facility or its operation with the intent to compel a person, a government or a domestic or international organization to do, or refrain from doing, anything;
- committing an indictable offence for the purpose of obtaining nuclear or radioactive material or a device, or to obtain access to a nuclear facility;
- threatening to commit any of these offences.
The enactment of these amendments will permit Canada to ratify the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the 2005 International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
This new legislation will come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
An online version of the legislation is available at www.parl.gc.ca.
Backgrounder: Nuclear Terrorism Legislation
-30-
Ref.:
Follow Department of Justice Canada on Twitter (@JusticeCanadaEn), join us on Facebook or visit our YouTube channel.
- Date Modified:
