Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (Canada)

The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (the Act) is an act of the Parliament of Canada and initially was passed by the 33rd Canadian Parliament in 1988. It deals with formalities about arrest warrants, production orders and orders of restraint, search and seizure, and forfeiture of assets between Canada and other countries.[1] As of September 2019, well over 50 entries were found in the Canada Treaty Series.

Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act
Parliament of Canada
Long title An Act to provide for the implementation of treaties for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and to amend the Criminal Code, the Crown Liability Act and the Immigration Act
Enacted by	Parliament of Canada
Assented to	28 July 1988
Commenced	1 October 1988

Cases

• United States v. Stumbo, was a US Federal Court case in the Eastern District of California in which the 23 year old defendant, Tyler Stumbo, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, which were at the time a Class III prohibited substance. Stumbo was convicted with the aid of a production order served at the British Columbia premises of his ISP, who provided him with encrypted email services.[2][3][4]

• Krishnan Suthanthiran was the subject of Belgian prosecutorial attention in 2018, as it seemed to them he had engaged in "possible misuse of company assets, concealing assets in insolvency and money laundering" in his purchase and subsequent bankruptcy of a nuclear medicine business from a Belgian company named Nordion. In 2014, the Belgian authorities invoked the Act, in order to obtain search warrants. He contended that his cyclotron technology was the target of a legal fishing expedition. He was subject to search warrants in two different jurisdictions. A court in British Columbia endorsed his vision, while an Ontario court found in favour of the authorities.[5] He appealed an adverse judgment in the Ontario Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada where his leave to appeal was denied in January 2018.[6]

References

1. "Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 30 (4th Supp.))". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Plennes, Chad (17 September 2007). "Criminal Complaint: United States of America v. Tyler Stumbo" (PDF). Wired.
3. Anderson, Nate (8 November 2007). "Steroid bust shows Feds can still get at "private" and "secure" e-mail". Condé Nast. WIRED Media Group.
4. Singel, Ryan (November 2007). "Encrypted E-Mail Company Hushmail Spills to Feds". Condé Nast. Wired.
5. "Millionaire who bought B.C. ghost town — complete with 302 empty homes — under investigation for money laundering in Belgium". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. 20 August 2018.
6. "Docket 37564 Krishnan Suthanthiran, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the Kingdom of Belgium". Supreme Court of Canada.

External links

• "Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act". Justice Laws Website. Department of Justice. Retrieved 21 December 2020.