Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, 2019/Schedule 5
Contents
[edit]- SPECIAL INVESTIGATION UNIT
- 4. Special Investigations Unit
- 5. Special Investigations Unit Director
- 6. Investigators
- 7. Peace officers
- 8. Employees
- 9. Collection, use and disclosure of personal information
- 10. Agreements with other entities
- 11. Annual report
- 12. Confidentiality
- 13. Protection from personal liability
- 14. Protection from giving testimony
- INVESTIGATIONS
- 15. Power to investigate
- 16. Notification of incident
- 17. Preliminary inquiries
- 18. Lead investigator
- 19. Assignment of investigators
- 20. Securing the scene
- 21. Incident notes
- 22. Notice of whether subject official or witness official
- 23. Provision of notes by witness official
- 24. Notes of subject official
- 25. Interview of witness officials
- 26. Segregation of officials
- 27. Right to counsel
- 28. Confidentiality
- 29. Public statements by SIU
- 30. Delegation
- 31. Duty to comply
- 32. Charges
- 33. Public notice if charges laid against official re incident
- 34. Public notice if no charges laid against official re incident
- 35. Investigation timing
- 36. Referral of possible criminal conduct by official to police chief
- 37. Transition
- REGULATIONS
- AMENDMENTS TO THIS ACT
- REPEALS, REVOCATIONS AND COMPLEMENTARY AMENDMENTS
- COMMENCEMENT AND SHORT TITLE
SCHEDULE 5.
Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019
1.(1) In this Act, “affected person” means, in relation to an incident referred to in subsection 15 (1), a person,
- (a) who died or was seriously injured,
- (b) at whom a firearm was discharged, or
- (c) who reported that he or she was sexually assaulted;
(2) A person sustains a serious injury if he or she,
- (a) sustains an injury as a result of which he or she is admitted to a hospital;
- (b) suffers a fracture to the skull, or to a limb, rib or vertebra;
- (c) suffers burns to a significant proportion of his or her body;
- (d) loses any portion of his or her body;
- (e) as a result of an injury, experiences a loss of vision or hearing; or
- (f) sustains a prescribed injury.
(3) Words and expressions used in this Act and in the regulations that relate to policing and police matters have the same meanings as under the Police Services Act, unless the context requires otherwise.
2. For the purposes of this Act, a person appointed as a police officer under the Interprovincial Policing Act, 2009 is deemed to be,
(a) a member of the Ontario Provincial Police;
(b) if he or she was appointed by a member of a municipal police force, a member of that municipal police force; or
(c) if he or she was appointed by a member of a board, a member of the municipal police force for which the board is responsible.
3. This Act binds the Crown.
38.(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, subject to section 39, make regulations respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the intent and purpose of this Act, including regulations,
(2) The Minister may make regulations,
- (a) respecting anything that, in this Act, may or must be prescribed by the Minister or done by regulation made by the Minister;
- (b) governing the operating policies and procedures of the Special Investigations Unit, including requiring that any of the policies or procedures be made available to the public;
- (c) governing the requirements and qualifications for appointment as an investigator under section 6, including in relation to training, evaluation and accreditation;
- (d) establishing classes of investigators appointed under section 6 and setting out requirements and qualifications for each class;
- (e) governing the making of preliminary inquiries by the SIU Director under section 17, including requiring the SIU Director to report in the specified manner to one or more specified persons respecting a determination that an investigation not be conducted and governing the publication of any such report;
- (f) governing the assignment of investigators under section 19 to preliminary inquiries and investigations under this Act, including,
::(i) providing for a limit on the number or proportion of former officials that may be assigned as investigators, or as a class of investigators prescribed under clause (d), in relation to a preliminary inquiry or investigation or a class of preliminary inquiries or investigations, and
::(ii) restricting the assignment of specified investigators to participate in preliminary inquiries or investigations that relate to officials or classes of officials who are not members of a police force, and requiring that such investigators not participate in such preliminary inquiries or investigations.
39.(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall not make any regulation under subsection 38 (1) unless,
- (a) the Minister has published a notice of the proposed regulation on a website of the Government of Ontario and given the notice by any other means that the Minister considers appropriate;
- (b) the notice complies with the requirements of this section;
- (c) the time period specified in the notice, during which members of the public may exercise a right described in clause (2) (b) have expired;
- (d) the Minister has considered whatever comments and submissions members of the public have made on the proposed regulation in accordance with clause (2) (b); and
- (e) the Minister has reported to the Lieutenant Governor in Council on what, if any, changes to the proposed regulation the Minister considers appropriate.
(2) The notice referred to in clause (1) (a) shall contain,
- (a) a description of the proposed regulation;
- (b) a statement of the time period during which members of the public may submit written comments on the proposed regulation to the Minister and the manner in which the comments must be submitted;
- (c) a statement of where and when members of the public may review written information about the proposed regulation;
- (d) the publication date of the notice; and
- (e) any other information that the Minister considers appropriate.
(3) The time period referred to in clause (2) (b) shall be at least 45 days after the Minister publishes the notice referred to in clause (1) (a), unless the Minister shortens the time period in accordance with subsection (4).
(4) The Minister may shorten a time period if, in the Minister’s opinion,
- (a) the urgency of the situation requires it;
- (b) the proposed regulation clarifies the intent or operation of this Act or the regulations; or
- (c) the proposed regulation is of a minor or technical nature.
(5) On receiving the Minister’s report referred to in clause (1) (e), the Lieutenant Governor in Council, without further notice under subsection (1), may make the proposed regulations with any changes the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers appropriate, whether or not those changes are mentioned in the Minister’s report.
(6) The Minister may decide that this section should not apply to the power of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make a regulation under subsection 38 (1) if, in the Minister’s opinion, any of the circumstances set out in subsection (4) apply.
(7) If the Minister decides that this section should not apply to the power of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make a regulation under subsection 38 (1),
- (a) this section does not apply to the power of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make the regulation; and
- (b) the Minister shall give notice of the decision to the public as soon as is reasonably possible after making the decision.
(8) The Minister shall publish the notice referred to in clause (7) (b) on a website of the Government of Ontario and give the notice by any other means that the Minister considers appropriate.
(9) The notice referred to in clause (7) (b) shall include a statement of the Minister’s reasons for making the decision, the publication date of the notice and any other information the Minister considers appropriate.
(10) Subject to subsection (11), a court shall not review any action, decision, failure to take action or failure to make a decision by the Minister or the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this section.
(11) Any person resident in Ontario may make an application for judicial review under the Judicial Review Procedure Act on the grounds that the Minister has not taken a step required by subsections (1) to (9) of this section.
(12) No person shall make an application under subsection (11) with respect to a regulation later than 21 days after the Minister publishes a notice on a website of the Government of Ontario with respect to the regulation.
41. The Ontario Special Investigations Unit Act, 2018 is repealed.
42. Part VII of the Police Services Act is repealed.
43. The following regulations are revoked:
(1) Ontario Regulation 355/18 (Immediate Medical Care), made under the Ontario Special Investigations Unit Act, 2018.
(2) Ontario Regulation 356/18 (General), made under the Ontario Special Investigations Unit Act, 2018.
(3) Ontario Regulation 267/10 (Conduct and Duties of Police Officers Respecting Investigations by the Special Investigations Unit), made under the Police Services Act.
44.(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Act set out in this Schedule comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
(2) Section 40 comes into force on the later of the day section 1 of this Schedule comes into force and the day section 1 of Schedule 1 (Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019) to the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, 2019 comes into force.
(3) Section 41 and paragraphs 1 and 2 of section 43 come into force on the day the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, 2019 receives Royal Assent.
45. The short title of the Act set out in this Schedule is the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019.