Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.(incorporates
many of the provisions from the previous.Canadian
Bill of Rights)
Canada, thanks to the
Statute of Westminster and by means of this Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms, what was meant by the term Canada was Canada, a free nation,
a nation outside of control by other nations, But, alas, not much changed
from the days of the legal Governor General (*).
Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms in detail:
Covers:
Guarantee
of Rights and Freedoms
Fundamental
Freedoms
Democratic
Rights
Mobility Rights
Legal Rights
Equality Rights
Official Languages
of Canada
Minority Language
Educational Rights
Enforcement
General
Application
of Charter
Citation
Schedule B
Constitution Act, 1982
Enacted as Schedule B to
the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) 1982, c. 11,
which came into force on
April 17, 1982
PART I
Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms
Whereas Canada is founded
upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God (Matthew
22:36-40) and the rule of law: Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms, Rights
and freedoms in Canada:
1. The Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it
subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably
justified in a free and democratic society.
2. Everyone has the following
fundamental freedoms:
a) freedom of conscience
and religion;
b) freedom of thought, belief,
opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media
of communication;
c) freedom of peaceful assembly;
and
d) freedom of association.
3. Every citizen of Canada
has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons
or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.
4. (1) No House of Commons
and no legislative assembly shall continue for longer than five years from
the date fixed for the return of the writs of a general election of its
members.
(2) In time of real or apprehended
war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Commons may be continued by Parliament
and a legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond five
years if such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third
of the members of the House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as
the case may be.
5. There shall be a sitting
of Parliament and of each legislature at least once every twelve months.
6. (1) Every citizen of
Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
(2) Rights to move and gain
livelihood. Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status
of a permanent resident of Canada has the right
a) to move to and take up
residence in any province; and
b) to pursue the gaining
of a livelihood in any province.
(3) The rights specified
in subsection (2) are subject to
a) any laws or practices
of general application in force in a province other than those that discriminate
among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous
residence; and
b) any laws providing for
reasonable residency requirements as a qualification for the receipt of
publicly provided social services.
(4) Subsections (2) and
(3) do not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object
the amelioration in a province of conditions of individuals in that province
who are socially or economically disadvantaged if the rate of employment
in that province is below the rate of employment in Canada.
7. Everyone has the right
to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived
thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
8. Everyone has the right
to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.
9. Everyone has the right
not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.
10. Everyone has the right
on arrest or detention
a) to be informed promptly
of the reasons therefor;
b) to retain and instruct
counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and
c) to have the validity
of the detention determined by way of habeas
corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.
11. Any person charged with
an offence has the right
a) to be informed without
unreasonable delay of the specific offence;
b) to be tried within a
reasonable time;
c) not to be compelled to
be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;
d) to be presumed innocent
until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an
independent and impartial tribunal;
e) not to be denied reasonable
bail without just cause;
f) except in the case of
an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal, to the
benefit of trial by jury where the maximum punishment for the offence is
imprisonment for five years or a more severe punishment;
g) not to be found guilty
on account of any act or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission,
it constituted an offence under Canadian or international law or was criminal
according to the general principles of law recognized by the community
of nations;
h) if finally acquitted
of the offence, not to be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty
and punished for the offence, not to be tried or punished for it again;
and
i) if found guilty of the
offence and if the punishment for the offence has been varied between the
time of commission and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser
punishment.
12. Everyone has the right
not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
13. A witness who testifies
in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence
so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except
in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.
14. A party or witness in
any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which
the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance
of an interpreter.
15. (1) Every individual
is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection
and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular,
without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour,
religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
(2) Subsection (1) does
not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration
of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that
are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion,
sex, age or mental or physical disability.
16. (1) English and French
are the official languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal
rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament
and government of Canada.
(2) English and French are
the official languages of New Brunswick and have equality of status and
equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the
legislature and government of New Brunswick.
(3) Nothing in this Charter
limits the authority of Parliament or a legislature to advance the equality
of status or use of English and French.
16.1. (1) The English linguistic
community and the French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality
of status and equal rights and privileges, including the right to distinct
educational institutions and such distinct cultural institutions as are
necessary for the preservation and promotion of those communities.
(2) The role of the legislature
and government of New Brunswick to preserve and promote the status, rights
and privileges referred to in subsection (1) is affirmed.
17. (1) Everyone has the
right to use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of
Parliament.
(2) Everyone has the right
to use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of the legislature
of New Brunswick.
18. (1) The statutes, records
and journals of Parliament shall be printed and published in English and
French and both language versions are equally authoritative.
(2) The statutes, records
and journals of the legislature of New Brunswick shall be printed and published
in English and French and both language versions are equally authoritative.
19. (1) Either English or
French may be used by any person in or in any pleading in or process issuing
from, any court established by Parliament.
(2) Either English or French
may be used by any person in, or in any pleading in or process issuing
from, any court of New Brunswick.
20. (1) Any member of the
public in Canada has the right to communicate with, and to receive available
services from, any head or central office of an institution of the Parliament
or government of Canada in English or French and has the same right with
respect to any other office of any such institution where
a) there is a significant
demand for communications with and services from that office in such language;
or
b) due to the nature of
the office, it is reasonable that communications with and services from
that office be available in both English and French.
(2) Any member of the public
in New Brunswick has the right to communicate with, and to receive available
services from, any office of an institution of the legislature or government
of New Brunswick in English or French.
21. Nothing in sections
16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any right, privilege or obligation
with respect to the English and French languages, or either of them, that
exists or is continued by virtue of any other provision of the Constitution
of Canada.
22. Nothing in sections
16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any legal or customary right or privilege
acquired or enjoyed either before or after the coming into force of this
Charter with respect to any language that is not English or French.
Minority Language Educational
Rights Language of instruction
23. (1) Citizens of Canada
a) whose first language
learned and still understood is that of the English or French linguistic
minority population of the province in which they reside or
b) who have received their
primary school instruction in Canada in English or French and reside in
a province where the language in which they received that instruction is
the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of
the province, have the right to have their children receive primary and
secondary school instruction in that language in that province.
(2) Citizens of Canada of
whom any child has received or is receiving primary or secondary school
instruction in English or French in Canada, have the right to have all
their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the
same language.
(3) The right of citizens
of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to have their children receive
primary and secondary school instruction in the language of the English
or French linguistic minority population of a province
a) applies wherever in the
province the number of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient
to warrant the provision to them out of public funds of minority language
instruction; and
b) includes, where the number
of those children so warrants, the right to have them receive that instruction
in minority language educational facilities provided out of public funds.
24. (1) Anyone whose rights
or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied
may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as
the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances.
(2) Where, in proceedings
under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a
manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this
Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is established that, having
regard to all the circumstances, the admission of it in the proceedings
would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
25. The guarantee in this
Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed so as to
abrogate or derogate from any aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms
that pertain to the aboriginal peoples of Canada including
a) any rights or freedoms
that have been recognized by the Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763;
and
b) any rights or freedoms
that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.
26. The guarantee in this
Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed as denying
the existence of any other rights or freedoms that exist in Canada..(such
as the Magna Carta)
27. This Charter shall be
interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement
of the multicultural heritage of Canadians.
28. Notwithstanding anything
in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed
equally to male and female persons.
29. Nothing in this Charter
abrogates or derogates from any rights or privileges guaranteed by or under
the Constitution of Canada in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient
schools. (93)
30. A reference in this
Charter to a Province or to the legislative assembly or legislature of
a province shall be deemed to include a reference to the Yukon Territory
and the Northwest Territories, or to the appropriate legislative authority
thereof, as the case may be.
31. Nothing in this Charter
extends the legislative powers of any body or authority.
32. (1) This Charter applies
a) to the Parliament and
government of Canada in respect of all matters within the authority of
Parliament including all matters relating to the Yukon Territory and Northwest
Territories; and
b) to the legislature and
government of each province in respect of all matters within the authority
of the legislature of each province.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection
(1), section 15 shall not have effect until three years after this section
comes into force.
33. (1) Parliament or the
legislature of a province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament
or of the legislature, as the case may be, that the Act or a provision
thereof shall operate notwithstanding a provision included in section 2
or sections 7 to 15 of this Charter.
(2) An Act or a provision
of an Act in respect of which a declaration made under this section is
in effect shall have such operation as it would have but for the provision
of this Charter referred to in the declaration.
(3) A declaration made under
subsection (1) shall cease to have effect five years after it comes into
force or on such earlier date as may be specified in the declaration.
(4) Parliament or the legislature
of a province may re-enact a declaration made under subsection (1).
(5) Subsection (3) applies
in respect of a re-enactment made under subsection (4).
34. This Part may be cited
as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
(end)
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I n d e x o f
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