An Act to amend the Criminal Code (interception of private communications and related warrants and orders)

Short title: Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act Bill C-50 (40-3) Status: At second reading in the House of Commons Type: House Government Bill Sponsor: Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice (Niagara Falls) Latest stage: First reading Legislative

summary <div>A legislative

summary is currently being prepared for this bill by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of the Library of Parliament. Meanwhile, the following executive

summary is available. <br/><br/>On October 2010, the Minister of Justice introduced Bill C-50,

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (interception of private communications and related warrants and orders) (Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading.<br/><br/>Bill C-50 amends the Criminal Code.

Among other things it <br/><br/>• provides that the rules respecting confidentiality that apply in respect of an authorization to intercept private communications also apply in respect of a request for a related warrant or order;<br/><br/>• requires the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to report on the interceptions of private communications made without authorizations;<br/><br/>• provides that a person who has been the object of an interception made without an authorization must be notified of the interception within a specified period;<br/><br/>• makes it illegal to possess a “device” for the purposes of committing the offence of mischief and indicating that computer programs – such as viruses – are now to be considered as “devices”;<br/><br/>• permits a peace officer or a public officer, in certain circumstances, to install and make use of a number recorder without a warrant; <br/><br/>• extends to one year the maximum period of validity of a warrant for a tracking device and a number recorder if the warrant is issued in respect of a terrorism offence or an offence relating to a criminal organization.<br/><br/>• creates a preservation order that would require a telecommunication service provider to safeguard and not delete its data related to a specific communication or a subscriber when police believe the data will assist in an investigation.

A preservation order is a “quick-freeze” temporary order, and would only be in effect for as long as it takes law enforcement to return with a search warrant or production order to obtain the data.<br/><br/>It also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.</div> House of Commons — First reading: Completed (2010-10-29) House of Commons — Second reading: No activity Full bill text is not included in the LEGISinfo JSON export. Open the official Parliament of Canada bill page for the complete document.