Amendments concerning sexual offenses have been made to the Criminal Code

Authorities in Canada have acted on Bill S-12, which contains a number of updates to the sex offender registry and has been awaiting lawmakers' attention since the spring. It has now officially come into force and become law. The government has thus amended the Criminal Code to make the justice system more responsive to the needs of victims and to strengthen the National Sex Offender Registry.

So, what's changed?

The process of lifting the publication ban has become clearer and simpler. In recent years, it has been criticized for preventing victims from speaking about their experiences of sexual violence. Those who violated the publication ban — including a victim telling the media, family or friends about the case — could be prosecuted.

The law now requires the victim's opinion — should a publication ban be imposed at all? It also simplifies the process of lifting the ban if the victim no longer wants it. In addition, the law now specifies that victims who choose to maintain a publication ban for their own protection may share their personal information under certain circumstances, such as in private conversations and support group meetings.

Navigation of the justice system has become clearer for victims. As of today, victims will be informed of the right to receive or refuse to receive current case information after sentencing. The realization of this right is entrusted to the courts. They must also, at the victim's request, provide contacts to Correctional Service Canada so that the injured party can receive all the information to which they are entitled.

The operation of the National Sex Offender Registry (in place since 2004) is being changed. Until now, sex offenders in most cases had to self-register within seven days of being ordered to do so in court proceedings. The approach to this has now changed:

• child sex offenders sentenced to at least two years' imprisonment are automatically registered;
• repeat sex offenders are automatically registered;
• all other sex offenders must be registered unless they can demonstrate that they are not a danger to the community.

Finally, activities not previously considered as such under this law have been added to the sex offender registry. Sextortion (abuse of power for sexual gain or advantage) and non-consensual dissemination of intimate images are now also required to be registered in the National Registry of Sexual Offenders.

The sex offender registry is still not public and is available only to Canadian police authorities. Some international police authorities may be provided with information from the database if necessary. Provinces also cannot make the registry publicly available, but may create their own public registries to address specific security concerns.

All of these changes are aimed at improving the prevention and investigation of sex crimes, which disproportionately affect women and children, and which can have devastating consequences for victims and survivors.