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 (un Acte concernant la loi criminelle; 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 administrative divisions) possesses its own provincial/territorial legislature, which according to the constitution is empowered only to create or modify civil law (such as administrative law, family law and torts), with criminal law entirely a federal matter. However, the actual enforcement of the Criminal Code is primarily handled by the provinces and territories as well as their local governments, 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).