Part 1 of the Constitution
Act, 1982 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 thelegislative 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.
Official Languages of Canada
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 the Charter
limits the authority of Parliament or a
legislature to advance the equality of status
or use of English and French.
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
maybe used by any person in, or in any pleading
in or processissuing 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
section 16 to 20 abrogates orderogates 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, asguaranteed 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 may be acquired by the
aboriginal peoples of Canada by way of land
claims settlement.
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.Not
withstanding 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) Not withstanding
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 not hwithstanding 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 a 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.
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