Previous Headline
June 2006
Current Event … Canada’s Anti-terrorism Law Back In The News
What is a terrorist group?
A terrorist group is an entity (a person, a group, a fund, an organisation, etc.) that facilitates or carries out a terrorist activity or whose mission is to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity.
A terrorist group can also be any entity that is on a list made by the Federal Government. This list includes entities that:
- Have carried out or tried to carry out a terrorist activity;
- Have facilitated a terrorist activity; or
- Have acted on behalf of or under the orders of an entity that is involved in terrorist activity.
The current list is available online at
http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp.
Is it easier for the police to get permission to intercept private communications for an investigation of a terrorism offence?
Yes. When the Anti-terrorism Act came into effect, it changed the Criminal Code to make it easier for the police to get an authorisation from a judge to intercept (listen to or record) a private communication (for example, a phone conversation) for an investigation of a terrorism offence. In order to get this authorisation for a terrorism-related investigation, police only have to show the judge that the authorisation would be in the best interests of the administration of justice. They don’t have to show the judge that the interception of the private communication is a last resort measure (i.e. showing that other ways of investigating the offence were not successful or will not be successful), as is the case for most other offences.
The Anti-terrorism Act also changed the Criminal Code to make the authorisation to intercept a private communication for a terrorism-related investigation valid for a longer period of time. While for most offences, such an authorisation is valid for sixty days, an authorisation given for the investigation of a terrorism offence may be valid for one or more periods of more than sixty days. But each of these periods cannot be longer than one year.
