Streamlining of Administration of Provincial Offences Act, 1997
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill amends the Provincial Offences Act to allow the Attorney General to make agreements with municipalities permitting them to undertake courts administration and court support functions for the purposes of the Act and the Contraventions Act (Canada), and to conduct prosecutions for the purposes of Parts I and II of the Act and for related Contraventions Act purposes. Complementary amendments are made to the Courts of Justice Act and the Municipal Act.
Bill 1081997
An Act to deal with the prosecution of certain
provincial offences, to reduce duplication
and to streamline administration
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
PART I
AMENDMENTS TO THE PROVINCIAL OFFENCES ACT
PROVINCIAL OFFENCES ACT
1. (1) Section 60.1 of the Provincial Offences Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 17, section 130 and amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1995, chapter 6, section 7, is further amended by adding the following subsections:
Part X agreements
(3.1) When an agreement made under Part X applies to a fine, payments made by the defendant shall first be credited towards payment of the surcharge, not as described in subsection (3).
. . . . .
Same
(4.1) Subsection (4) also applies to payments received under clause 165 (5) (a).
(2) The Act is amended by adding the following Part:
PART X
AGREEMENTS WITH MUNICIPALITIES
CONCERNING ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS AND PROSECUTIONS
Agreements
162. (1) The Attorney General and a municipality may enter into an agreement with respect to a specified area, authorizing the municipality to,
(a) perform courts administration and court support functions, including the functions of the clerk of the court, for the purposes of this Act and the Contraventions Act (Canada); and
(b) conduct prosecutions,
(i) in proceedings under Parts I and II, and
(ii) in proceedings under the Contraventions Act (Canada) that are commenced by ticket under Part I or II of this Act.
Application of (1) (a)
(2) Clause (1) (a) also applies to the functions assigned to the clerk of the court by any other Act.
Performance standards and sanctions
(3) Performance standards and sanctions shall be specified in the agreement; the municipality shall meet the standards and is subject to the sanctions for failure to meet them.
Definition
(4) In subsection (3),
"performance standards" includes standards for the conduct of prosecutions, for the administration of the courts and for the provision of court support services.
Area of application
163. An agreement under this Part may specify an area that includes territory outside the municipality.
Deposit with clerk
164. (1) When the Attorney General and a municipality have entered into an agreement under this Part, a copy of the agreement shall be deposited with the clerk of the municipality and with the clerk of any other municipality that has jurisdiction in the specified area.
Judicial notice
(2) Judicial notice shall be taken of the agreement without the agreement or its deposit being specially pleaded or proved.
Non-compliance
(3) No proceeding is invalidated by reason only of a person's failure to comply with the agreement.
Collection and enforcement
165. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in force, the municipality has power to collect fines under Parts I, II and III, including costs under subsection 60 (3), surcharges under section 60.1 and fees referred to in section 66.2, and to enforce their payment; collection and enforcement shall be carried out in the manner specified in the agreement.
Contraventions Act (Canada)
(2) Subsection (1) also applies to fines and fees imposed under the Contraventions Act (Canada).
Non-application of 69 (6-21)
(3) Subsections 69 (6) to (21) do not apply to fines that are governed by the agreement.
Fines, etc., payable to municipality
(4) Unless a regulation made under clause 173 (b) provides otherwise, fines that are governed by the agreement are payable to the municipality and not to the Minister of Finance.
Payments to Minister of Finance
(5) The municipality shall pay to the Minister of Finance, at the times and in the manner specified in the agreement, amounts calculated in accordance with the agreement, in respect of,
(a) surcharges under section 60.1;
(b) other fine revenues that constitute money paid to Ontario for a special purpose within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act;
(c) costs the Attorney General incurs for adjudication and prosecution, for monitoring the performance of the agreement and for enforcing the agreement; and
(d) fines and fees imposed under the Contraventions Act (Canada).
Retention of balance
(6) Despite the Fines and Forfeitures Act, the municipality is entitled to retain, as a fee, the balance remaining after payment under subsection (5).
No other charge
(7) The municipality shall not collect any other charge for acting under the agreement, except with the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance.
Fines imposed before effective date
166. An agreement under this Part may,
(a) authorize the municipality to collect and enforce the payment of fines that were imposed before the agreement's effective date; and
(b) provide in what proportions and in what manner the amounts collected are to be shared between the municipality and the Minister of Finance.
Special rules
167. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in effect, the following rules apply:
1. The clerk of the court may be a municipal employee.
2. Subject to section 29, the court may sit in the location designated by the municipality, which need not be in premises operated by the Province of Ontario for court purposes.
3. The court office shall be in the location designated by the municipality.
4. Despite anything else in this Act, the municipality shall not without the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance, assign to a person other than its own employee a function that the agreement gives to the municipality.
Definition: "prosecutor"
(2) For the purposes of this Part,
"prosecutor" means the Attorney General or, where the Attorney General does not intervene, means a person acting on behalf of the municipality in accordance with the agreement or, where no such person intervenes, means the person who issues a certificate or lays an information, and includes counsel or agent acting on behalf of any of them.
Right to intervene
168. An agreement under this Part does not affect the Attorney General's right to intervene in a proceeding and assume the role of prosecutor at any stage, including on appeal.
No agency
169. A municipality that acts under an agreement under this Part does not do so as an agent of the Crown in right of Ontario or of the Attorney General.
Order for compliance
170. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in effect, the Attorney General may make an order directing the municipality to comply with the agreement within a specified time.
Revocation or suspension
(2) The Attorney General may revoke or suspend the agreement if the municipality does not comply with the order within the specified time.
Protection from personal liability
(3) No proceeding for damages shall be commenced against theAttorney General or an employee of the Ministry of the Attorney General for anything done or omitted in good faith in connection with the revocation or suspension of an agreement.
Review committee
171. An agreement under this Part may provide for a review committee whose composition and functions are determined by regulation.
Transition: application to all proceedings
172. (1) Unless an agreement under this Part provides otherwise, the agreement applies in respect of a proceeding whether it was commenced before or after the agreement's effective date.
Exception
(2) However, if one of the following conditions applies to a proceeding the trial and disposition, including sentencing, shall be conducted as if there were no agreement:
1. The trial is scheduled to begin within seven calendar days after the effective date.
2. The trial began before the effective date and the disposition, including sentencing, is not yet complete on that date.
Regulations
173. The Attorney General may, by regulation,
(a) impose obligations in connection with an agreement under this Part on a person who is not a party to the agreement;
(b) provide that fees governed by an agreement may, for a transitional period after its effective date, be paid to the Minister of Finance;
(c) determining the composition and functions of a review committee for the purposes of section 171;
(d) provide for the effective implementation of agreements.
Group of municipalities
174. An agreement under this Part may also be made with two or more municipalities, and in that case sections 162 to 173 apply with necessary modifications.
PART II
COMPLEMENTARY AMENDMENTS, COMMENCEMENT AND SHORT TITLE
COURTS OF JUSTICE ACT
2. Subsection 70 (3) of the Courts of Justice Act is amended by adding the following clause:
(c.1) regulating the duties of municipal employees who act under the authority of agreements made under Part X of the Provincial Offences Act.
MUNICIPAL ACT
3. Part XVI of the Municipal Act is amended by adding the following section:
Definitions
206.1 (1) In this section,
"municipality" includes a regional, metropolitan and district municipality; ("municipalité")
"Part X agreement" means an agreement under Part X of the Provincial Offences Act. ("entente prévue à la partie X")
Part X agreements
(2) A municipality has power to enter into and to perform a Part X agreement.
Employees
(3) The functions given to a municipality by a Part X agreement may be performed by its employees.
Extra-territorial effect
(4) The power to perform a Part X agreement may be exercised in an area outside the municipality's territorial limits if that area forms part of the area specified in the agreement.
Commencement
4. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
5. The short title of this Act is the Streamlining of Administration of Provincial Offences Act, 1997.