HONOURABLE SHIRLEY BOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER OF
PUBLIC SAFETY AND SOLICITOR GENERAL

BILL 15 — 2011

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND PUBLIC SAFETY AND SOLICITOR GENERAL STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2011

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Armoured Vehicle and After-Market Compartment Control Act

1 Section 12 (9) of the Armoured Vehicle and After-Market Compartment Control Act, S.B.C. 2010, c. 8, is amended by striking out "Sections 4 and 5 of the Offence Act do not apply" and substituting "Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply".

Body Armour Control Act

2 Section 13 of the Body Armour Control Act, S.B.C. 2009, c. 24, is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) (d) and substituting the following:

(d) section 9 (3) or (4) [body armour permit cancellation or suspension], and

(b) in subsection (10) by striking out "Sections 4 and 5 of the Offence Act do not apply" and substituting "Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply".

Coroners Act

3 Section 23 (1) of the Coroners Act, S.B.C. 2007, c. 15, is amended by striking out "sections 24 to 29 of the Jury Act" and substituting "sections 24, 25 and 29 of the Jury Act".

Expropriation Act

4 Section 12 (1) of the Expropriation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 125, is amended by striking out "7 days" and substituting "21 days".

Fraudulent Conveyance Act

5 Section 1 of the Fraudulent Conveyance Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 163, is amended by striking out "by collusion, guile, malice or fraud".

Judicial Compensation Act

6 Section 6 of the Judicial Compensation Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 59, is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by repealing paragraphs (a) to (c) and substituting the following:

(a) within 7 sitting days of the Legislative Assembly after the date on which the minister receives the report, and

(b) if the Legislative Assembly is prorogued or dissolved within 16 sitting days after the date on which the report is laid before the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly has not passed a resolution under subsection (2), within 7 sitting days after the opening of the next session. , and

(b) in subsections (2) and (5) by striking out "28 days" and substituting "16 sitting days".

7 Section 8 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "subsection (2)," and substituting "subsections (2) and (2.1),", and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(2.1) The limits imposed under subsection (2) on a part time judge's salary may be exceeded, by an amount no greater than 20 % of the maximum permitted under that subsection, if

(a) the chief judge authorizes the part time judge to sit in excess of that part time judge's scheduled sittings for the year, and

(b) the extra sittings are necessary, in the chief judge's opinion, to meet urgent and unforeseen needs of the court, including needs arising from the illness or injury of another judge.

Jury Act

8 Section 3 of the Jury Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 242, is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) (p) and (q) and substituting the following:

(p) a person convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) for whom a pardon record suspension has not been granted under the Criminal Records Act (Canada),

(q) currently charged with an offence under the Criminal Code or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada), or , and

(b) by repealing subsection (2).

9 The following section is added:

Criminal record check

3.1  (1) For the purposes of determining if a person is disqualified under section 3 (1) (p) or (q), the sheriff may do any of the following:

(a) obtain a criminal record check from national data in the Canadian Police Information Centre database;

(b) check data in the Justice Information System;

(c) obtain a criminal record check from data in a prescribed source or check data in a prescribed source.

(2) The sheriff may obtain a criminal record check or check data under subsection (1) in respect of a juror once the juror has been summoned by the sheriff.

10 Section 9 is repealed.

11 Section 11 is repealed and the following substituted:

Summoning of jurors

11  (1) In this section, "electronic signature" means information in electronic form that the sheriff has created or adopted in order to sign a notice and that is in, attached to or associated with the notice.

(2) At least 15 days before the day on which a juror is required to attend a sitting, the sheriff must summon the juror

(a) by delivering a notice to the juror,

(b) by leaving a notice for the juror, in case of the juror's absence from the juror's usual residence or place of business, with a person who resides at the juror's usual residence or is employed at the juror's place of business and who appears to be at least 16 years of age,

(c) by mailing a notice to the last known mailing address of the juror, or

(d) by sending a notice to the last known electronic address of the juror.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the notice must be in writing, be signed by the sheriff and contain the particulars of the time and date of the sitting the juror is required to attend.

(4) If the notice is sent to an electronic address, the notice must be signed by the sheriff by an electronic signature or be identified by a prescribed method and contain the particulars of the time and date of the sitting the juror is required to attend.

(5) If it appears that a person empanelled to serve on a jury is dead, has moved out of the county or is disqualified, the sheriff may add an additional name to the panel.

(6) If it appears that a person empanelled to serve on a jury is absent or cannot be given notice within the time set out in subsection (2), the sheriff may, at any time before the sittings, empanel an additional person and give the person notice as provided in subsection (2).

(7) At any time before or during a sitting, the sheriff may, if he or she considers it necessary, apply to the court for an order directing the sheriff or any other officer of the court to return an additional number of jurors on giving notice that the court directs.

12 Section 18 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "30 days' notice" and substituting "45 days' notice", and

(b) in subsection (4) by striking out "Section 11 (1) and (2)" and substituting "Section 11 (2) and (3)".

13 Section 24 is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (2), and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(3) At the discretion of the sheriff, a person sitting as a juror at a trial or a sitting that takes 50 days or longer may be paid a prescribed fee for a day that the person is required to attend at the trial or the sitting but the trial or the sitting is cancelled for that day at short notice.

14 Sections 26 to 28 are repealed.

15 Section 34 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

(a.2) prescribing sources for the purposes of section 3.1 (1) (c);

(a.3) defining "electronic address" for the purposes of section 11;

(a.4) prescribing methods for the purposes of section 11 (4); .

Security Services Act

16 Section 43 of the Security Services Act, S.B.C. 2007, c. 30, is amended by striking out "Sections 4 and 5 of the Offence Act do not apply" and substituting "Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply".

17 Section 49 (2) is amended by striking out "under this Act or the Body Armour Control Act." and substituting "under this or another enactment."

Commencement

18  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

Item Column 1
Provisions of Act
Column 2
Commencement
1 Anything not elsewhere covered by this table The date of Royal Assent
2 Section 2 (a) By regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council