| |
|
|
Schedule B
Constitution Act, 1982 (79)
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 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.
Fundamental Freedoms
|
| Fundamental freedoms |
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.
Democratic Rights
|
| Democratic rights of citizens
| 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.
|
| Maximum duration of legislative bodies
|
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.
|
| Continuation in special circumstances
|
(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.
|
| Annual sitting of legislative bodies
|
5. There shall be a sitting of
Parliament and of each legislature at least once every twelve months.
Mobility Rights
|
| Mobility of citizens |
6. (1) Every citizen of Canada
has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada. |
| Rights to move and gain livelihood |
(2) 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.
|
| Limitation |
(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.
|
| Affirmative action programs |
(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.
Legal Rights |
| Life, liberty and security of
person |
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. |
| Search or seizure |
8. Everyone has the right to be
secure against unreasonable search or seizure. |
| Detention or imprisonment |
9. Everyone has the right not to
be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. |
| Arrest or detention |
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.
|
| Proceedings in criminal and penal
matters |
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.
|
| Treatment or punishment |
12. Everyone has the right not to
be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. |
| Self-crimination |
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. |
| Interpreter |
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.
Equality Rights |
| Equality before and under law and equal
protection and benefit of law |
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. |
| Affirmative action programs |
(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.
Official Languages of Canada |
| Official languages of Canada |
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. |
| Official languages of New Brunswick |
(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. |
| Advancement of status and use |
(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. |
| English and French linguistic communities in
New Brunswick |
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. |
| Role of the legislature and government of New
Brunswick |
(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. |
| Proceedings of Parliament |
17. (1) Everyone has the right to
use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of
Parliament. |
| Proceedings of New Brunswick
legislature |
(2) Everyone has the right to use
English or French in any debates and other proceedings of the legislature
of New Brunswick. |
| Parliamentary statutes and records |
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. |
| New Brunswick statutes and records |
(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. |
| Proceedings in courts established by
Parliament |
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. |
| Proceedings in New Brunswick courts |
(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. |
| Communications by public with federal
institutions |
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.
|
| Communications by public with New Brunswick
institutions |
(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. |
| Continuation of existing constitutional
provisions |
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. |
| Rights and privileges preserved |
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. |
| Continuity of language instruction |
(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. |
| Application where numbers warrant |
(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.
Enforcement |
| Enforcement of guaranteed rignts and
freedoms |
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. |
| Exclusion of evidence bringing administration
of justice into disrepute |
(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.
General |
| Aboriginal rights and freedoms not affected
by Charter |
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.
|
| Other rights and freedoms not affected by
Charter |
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. |
| Multicultural heritage |
27. This Charter shall be
interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement
of the multicultural heritage of Canadians. |
| Rights guaranteed equally to both
sexes |
28. Notwithstanding anything in
this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed
equally to male and female persons. |
| Rights respecting certain schools
preserved |
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) |
| Application to territories and territorial
authorities |
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. |
| Legislative powers not extended |
31. Nothing in this Charter
extends the legislative powers of any body or authority.
Application of Charter |
| Application of Charter |
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.
|
| Exception |
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1),
section 15 shall not have effect until three years after this section
comes into force. |
| Exception where express declaration |
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. |
| Operation of exception |
(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. |
| Five year limitation |
(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. |
| Re-enactment |
(4) Parliament or the legislature of a
province may re-enact a declaration made under subsection (1). |
| Five year limitation |
(5) Subsection (3) applies in respect of
a re-enactment made under subsection (4).
Citation |
| Citation |
34. This Part may be cited as the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
|