Compensation for Victims of Crime Amendment Act, 2006 Runciman, Robert W. — Bill 160 (38th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 160, 38-2

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Bill 160, Compensation for Victims of Crime Amendment Act, 2006

Runciman, Robert W.

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Original

[38] Bill 160 Original (PDF)

Bill 160 2006

An Act to amend

the Compensation for

Victims of Crime Act

Note: This Act amends the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act . For the legislative history of the Act, see Public Statutes - Detailed Legislative

History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Preamble

Victims of crime in Ontario and, if they are deceased, their personal representatives need to be informed of the possibility of making a claim for compensation under the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act .

Persons who make an application under the Act for the payment of compensation frequently have specific financial needs in the immediate aftermath of the crime. They deserve to have the Board under the Act deal with their application without

delay and to have an opportunity to respond in cases where the Board proposes to refuse their application.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Section 5 of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Duty of police force

(2) Every police force that investigates an injury or death in Ontario of a person occurring in or resulting from any of the circumstances described in clauses (1) (a), (

b) and (

c) shall inform the person or, if the person is

deceased, the personal representative of the person that an application for the payment of compensation may be made under subsection (1) and shall provide to the person so informed the information that the Minister specifies.

Section 14 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Mandatory payment

(1.1) The Board shall order interim payments under subsection (1) to the applicant if the Board receives written notice from the police force investigating the injury or death that is the subject of the application for compensation

under

section 5 that the injury or death has been reported to a police force and that the investigating police force reasonably believes that,

(

a) the applicant is eligible to receive compensation; and

(

b) the applicant requires the immediate financial assistance specified in the notice with respect to support, counselling, medical expenses or funeral expenses.

Time for payment

(1.2) If, under subsection (1.1), the Board orders interim payments, the Board shall make the payments within 14 days of receiving the notice from the investigating police force and shall make them directly to the person providing

the support, counselling, medical expenses or funeral expenses if possible or to the applicant directly if not possible.

Maximum payments

(1.3) Within 30 days after this subsection comes into force, the Board shall set a maximum amount of the interim payments that the Board may order to an applicant under this

section in respect of each of the areas of support,

counselling, medical expenses and funeral expenses.

Same

(1.4) The Board shall not order interim payments to an applicant under this

section that, in aggregate with respect to any one application for compensation under

section 5, exceed the amount of $4,000,000 or the maximum amounts that

the Board has set for each of the areas mentioned in subsection (1.3).

3. Subsection 16 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Compensation not dependent on a conviction

(1) The Board may make an order for compensation whether or not any person is prosecuted for or convicted of the offence giving rise to the injury or death.

Adjournment

(1.1) The Board may, on its own initiative or upon the application of the Minister, adjourn its proceedings pending the final determination of a prosecution or intended prosecution only if the Board considers that the issue of

whether there is an offence is relevant to making an order for compensation.

Section 17 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Refusal of compensation

(4) The Board shall not refuse to pay compensation under

section 5 unless it,

(

a) receives written notice from the police force investigating the injury or death that is the subject of the application for compensation that the police force reasonably believes that the Board should pay no compensation; and

(

b) provides the applicant with a copy of the notice and gives the applicant an opportunity to respond to the notice at the hearing required under

section 8.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Time for order of compensation

17.1 Within 180 days of receiving a completed application for compensation under

section 5, the Board shall make its decision on whether to pay the compensation unless it is not possible to do so, in which case the

Board shall notify the Minister in writing of the reasons for that within 30 days after the 180-day period has expired.

Commencement

6. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

7. The

short title of this Act is the Compensation for Victims of Crime Amendment Act, 2006 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act.

Every police force that investigates an injury or death in Ontario of a person occurring in or resulting from any of the circumstances for which an application for compensation could be made under the Act

shall inform the person or, if the person is deceased, the personal representative of the person of the possibility for making the application.

At present, under

section 14 of the Act, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has discretion to order interim compensation to an applicant if it appears to the Board that the applicant will probably be

awarded compensation. The Bill requires the Board to award interim compensation to the applicant if the Board receives written notice from the police force investigating the injury or death, that is the subject of the application for compensation,

that the injury or death has been reported to a police force and that the investigating police force reasonably believes both that the applicant is eligible to receive compensation and that the applicant requires immediate interim

compensation.

The Bill limits the power of the Board under

section 16 of the Act to adjourn its proceedings to cases where it considers that the issue of whether there is an offence is relevant to making an order for

compensation.

The Board cannot refuse to pay compensation under the Act unless it receives written notice from the police force investigating the injury or death that is the subject of the application for compensation

that the police force reasonably believes that the Board should pay no compensation. The Board is required to provide the applicant with a copy of the notice and to give the applicant an opportunity to respond to the notice at the hearing of the

application.

The Board is required to make its decision on whether to pay compensation under the Act within 180 days of receiving a completed application for compensation, unless it is not possible to do so within that

time.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

November 21, 2006

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

November

21, 2006

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent :

Coming into force :Royal Assent.

Acts affected - Bill 160

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Compensation for Victims of Crime Act

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 160, 38-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p38 s2 bill 160 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	61a8fde21fd2af9f1ffd2ca025c17a53a2006eb5

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).