Criminal Code (Canada)

The Criminal Code (French: Code criminel) is a comprehensive law which codifies virtually all criminal offences and legal procedures in the Canadian Republic (informally and commonly known as Canada). Its formal title is an Act respecting the criminal law (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, as amended). Section 91(27) of the Constitution of Canada establishes that the drafting, ratification, and repeal of criminal law in Canada is under the sole jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada; as Canada is a federation, each of its provinces (federated states) and territories (devolved jurisdictions) possesses its own provincial/territorial legislature, which according to the constitution is empowered only to create or modify civil law, with criminal law entirely a federal matter. However, the enforcement of the Criminal Code is primarily handled by the provinces and territories as well as their counties, with the Canadian federal government only handling criminal law at the federal level (namely, criminal matters affecting two or more provinces and/or territories or Canada as a whole).