Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize
the supremacy of God and the rule of law:
Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms
1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to
such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a
free and democratic society.
Fundamental Freedoms
2. Everyone has the following fundamental
freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and
expression, including freedom of the press and other media of
communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
Democratic Rights
3. Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote
in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly
and to be qualified for membership therein.
4. (1) No House of Commons and no legislative
assembly shall continue for longer than five years from the date fixed for the
return of the writs at a general election of its members.
(2) In time of real or apprehended war, invasion or
insurrection, a House of Commons may be continued by Parliament and a
legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond five years if
such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the
members of the House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as the case may
be.
5. There shall be a sitting of Parliament and of
each legislature at least once every twelve months.
Mobility Rights
6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to
enter, remain in and leave Canada.
(2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the
status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right
(a) to move to and take up residence in any
province; and
(b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any
province.
(3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject
to
(a) any laws or practices of general application
in force in a province other than those that discriminate among persons
primarily on the basis of province of present or previous residence; and
(b) any laws providing for reasonable residency
requirements as a qualification for the receipt of publicly provided social
services.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not preclude any law,
program or activity that has as its object the amelioration in a province of
conditions of individuals in that province who are socially or economically
disadvantaged if the rate of employment in that province is below the rate of
employment in Canada.
Legal Rights
7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in
accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
8. Everyone has the right to be secure against
unreasonable search or seizure.
9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily
detained or imprisoned.
10. Everyone has the right on arrest or
detention
(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons
therefor;
(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay
and to be informed of that right; and
(c) to have the validity of the detention
determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is
not lawful.
11. Any person charged with an offence has the
right
(a) to be informed without unreasonable delay of
the specific offence;
(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;
(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in
proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;
(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty
according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial
tribunal;
(e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just
cause;
(f) except in the case of an offence under
military law tried before a military tribunal, to the benefit of trial by jury
where the maximum punishment for the offence is imprisonment for five years or a
more severe punishment;
(g) not to be found guilty on account of any act
or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission, it constituted an
offence under Canadian or international law or was criminal according to the
general principles of law recognized by the community of nations;
(h) if finally acquitted of the offence, not to
be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty and punished for the offence,
not to be tried or punished for it again; and
(i) if found guilty of the offence and if the
punishment for the offence has been varied between the time of commission and
the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser punishment.
12. Everyone has the right not to be subjected to
any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
13. A witness who testifies in any proceedings
has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to
incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for
perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.
14. A party or witness in any proceedings who
does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted
or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter.
Equality Rights
15. (1) Every individual is equal before and
under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the
law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on
race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or
physical disability.
(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or
activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged
individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race,
national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability.
16. (1) English and French are the official
languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges
as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of
Canada.
(2) English and French are the official languages of New
Brunswick and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to
their use in all institutions of the legislature and government of New
Brunswick.
(3) Nothing in this Charter limits the authority of
Parliament or a legislature to advance the equality of status or use of English
and French.
16.1 (1) The English linguistic community and the
French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal
rights and privileges, including the right to distinct educational institutions
and such distinct cultural institutions as are necessary for the preservation
and promotion of those communities.
(2) The role of the legislature and government of New
Brunswick to preserve and promote the status, rights and privileges referred to
in subsection (1) is affirmed.
17. (1) Everyone has the right to use English or
French in any debates and other proceedings of Parliament.
(2) Everyone has the right to use English or French in
any debates and other proceedings of the legislature of New Brunswick.
18. (1) The statutes, records and journals of
Parliament shall be printed and published in English and French and both
language versions are equally authoritative.
(2) The statutes, records and journals of the
legislature of New Brunswick shall be printed and published in English and
French and both language versions are equally authoritative.
19. (1) Either English or French may be used by
any person in, or in any pleading in or process issuing from, any court
established by Parliament.
(2) Either English or French may be used by any person
in, or in any pleading in or process issuing from, any court of New
Brunswick.
20. (1) Any member of the public in Canada has
the right to communicate with, and to receive available services from, any head
or central office of an institution of the Parliament or government of Canada in
English or French, and has the same right with respect to any other office of
any such institution where
(a) there is a significant demand for
communications with and services from that office in such language; or
(b) due to the nature of the office, it is
reasonable that communications with and services from that office be available
in both English and French.
(2) Any member of the public in New Brunswick has the
right to communicate with, and to receive available services from, any office of
an institution of the legislature or government of New Brunswick in English or
French.
21. Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or
derogates from any right, privilege or obligation with respect to the English
and French languages, or either of them, that exists or is continued by virtue
of any other provision of the Constitution of Canada.
22. Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or
derogates from any legal or customary right or privilege acquired or enjoyed
either before or after the coming into force of this Charter with respect to any
language that is not English or French.
Minority Language Educational Rights
23. (1) Citizens of Canada
(a) whose first language learned and still
understood is that of the English or French linguistic minority population of
the province in which they reside, or
(b) who have received their primary school
instruction in Canada in English or French and reside in a province where the
language in which they received that instruction is the language of the English
or French linguistic minority population of the province,
have the right to have their children receive primary
and secondary school instruction in that language in that province.
(2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or
is receiving primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in
Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and secondary
school instruction in the same language.
(3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections
(1) and (2) to have their children receive primary and secondary school
instruction in the language of the English or French linguistic minority
population of a province
(a) applies wherever in the province the number
of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the
provision to them out of public funds of minority language instruction;
and
(b) includes, where the number of those children
so warrants, the right to have them receive that instruction in minority
language educational facilities provided out of public funds.
Enforcement
24. (1) Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as
guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to a court
of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers
appropriate and just in the circumstances.
(2) Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a court
concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any
rights or freedoms guaranteed by this Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if
it is established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the admission of
it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into
disrepute.
General
25. The guarantee in this Charter of certain
rights and freedoms shall not be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from
any aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the
aboriginal peoples of Canada including
(a) any rights or freedoms that have been
recognized by the Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763; and
(b) any rights or freedoms that now exist by way
of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.
26. The guarantee in this Charter of certain
rights and freedoms shall not be construed as denying the existence of any other
rights or freedoms that exist in Canada.
27. This Charter shall be interpreted in a manner
consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage
of Canadians.
28. Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the
rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female
persons.
29. Nothing in this Charter abrogates or
derogates from any rights or privileges guaranteed by or under the Constitution
of Canada in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient schools.
30. A reference in this Charter to a Province or
to the legislative assembly or legislature of a province shall be deemed to
include a reference to the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, or to
the appropriate legislative authority thereof, as the case may be.
31. Nothing in this Charter extends the
legislative powers of any body or authority.
Application of Charter
32. (1) This Charter applies
(a) to the Parliament and government of Canada in
respect of all matters within the authority of Parliament including all matters
relating to the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories; and
(b) to the legislature and government of each
province in respect of all matters within the authority of the legislature of
each province.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), section 15 shall not
have effect until three years after this section comes into force.
33. (1) Parliament or the legislature of a
province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament or of the legislature, as
the case may be, that the Act or a provision thereof shall operate
notwithstanding a provision included in section 2 or sections 7 to 15 of this
Charter.
(2) An Act or a provision of an Act in respect of which
a declaration made under this section is in effect shall have such operation as
it would have but for the provision of this Charter referred to in the
declaration.
(3) A declaration made under subsection (1) shall cease
to have effect five years after it comes into force or on such earlier date as
may be specified in the declaration.
(4) Parliament or the legislature of a province may
re-enact a declaration made under subsection (1).
(5) Subsection (3) applies in respect of a re-enactment
made under subsection (4).
Citation
34. This Part may be cited as the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
