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Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-29)

Act current to 2024-03-06

Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act

R.S.C., 1985, c. F-29

An Act to authorize the making of orders relating to the production of records and the giving of information for the purposes of proceedings in foreign tribunals, relating to measures of foreign states or foreign tribunals affecting international trade or commerce and in respect of the recognition and enforcement in Canada of certain foreign judgments

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

 This Act may be cited as the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act.

  • 1984, c. 49, s. 1

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

 In this Act,

antitrust law

antitrust law means a law of a foreign jurisdiction of a kind commonly known as an antitrust law, and includes a law having directly or indirectly as a purpose the preservation or enhancement of competition between business enterprises or the prevention or repression of monopolies or restrictive practices in trade or commerce; (loi antitrust)

foreign state

foreign state means a country other than Canada, and includes

  • (a) any political subdivision of the foreign state,

  • (b) the government, and any department, of the foreign state or of a political subdivision thereof, and

  • (c) any agency of the foreign state or of a political subdivision thereof; (État étranger)

foreign trade law

foreign trade law means a law of a foreign jurisdiction that directly or indirectly affects or is likely to affect trade or commerce between

  • (a) Canada, a province, a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada, a corporation incorporated by or under a law of Canada or a province or a person carrying on business in Canada,

and

  • (b) any person or foreign state; (loi commerciale étrangère)

foreign tribunal

foreign tribunal means a tribunal of a foreign state or of an organization of states; (tribunal étranger)

judgment

judgment includes a decree or order; (jugement)

record

record includes any correspondence, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work, photograph, film, microform, sound recording, videotape, machine readable record, and any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy or portion thereof; (document)

tribunal

tribunal includes any court, body, authority or person having authority to take or receive information, whether on its or his behalf or on behalf of any other court, body, authority or person. (tribunal)

  • R.S., 1985, c. F-29, s. 2
  • 1996, c. 28, s. 2

Amendments to Schedule

Marginal note:Power of Attorney General

 The Attorney General of Canada may, with the concurrence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, by order, amend the schedule

  • (a) by adding the name of a foreign trade law or a reference to any provision of a foreign trade law if the Attorney General of Canada is of the opinion that that law or provision is contrary to international law or international comity; or

  • (b) by removing a name or reference to any provision set out in the schedule if the Attorney General of Canada is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do so.

  • 1996, c. 28, s. 3

Disclosure of Records to Foreign Tribunals

Orders of the Attorney General

Marginal note:Orders of Attorney General relating to production of records and giving of information

  •  (1) Where, in the opinion of the Attorney General of Canada, a foreign tribunal has exercised, is exercising or is proposing or likely to exercise jurisdiction or powers of a kind or in a manner that has adversely affected or is likely to adversely affect significant Canadian interests in relation to international trade or commerce involving a business carried on in whole or in part in Canada or that otherwise has infringed or is likely to infringe Canadian sovereignty, or jurisdiction or powers that is or are related to the enforcement of a foreign trade law or a provision of a foreign trade law set out in the schedule, the Attorney General of Canada may, by order, prohibit or restrict

    • (a) the production before or the disclosure or identification to, or for the purposes of, a foreign tribunal of records that, at any time while the order is in force, are in Canada or are in the possession or under the control of a Canadian citizen or a person resident in Canada;

    • (b) the doing of any act in Canada, in relation to records that, at any time while the order is in force, are in Canada or are in the possession or under the control of a Canadian citizen or a person resident in Canada, that will, or is likely to, result in the records, or information as to the contents of the records or from which the records might be identified, being produced before or disclosed or identified to, or for the purposes of, a foreign tribunal; and

    • (c) the giving by a person, at a time when that person is a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada, of information before, or for the purposes of, a foreign tribunal in relation to, or in relation to the contents or identification of, records that, at any time while the order is in force, are or were in Canada or under the control of a Canadian citizen or a person resident in Canada.

  • Marginal note:Restriction in relation to tribunals in Canada

    (2) Where production before or disclosure or identification to, or for the purposes of, a foreign tribunal of a record and the giving by a person of information before, or for the purposes of, a foreign tribunal in relation to, or in relation to the contents or identification of, a record is prohibited or restricted by an order made under subsection (1), a tribunal in Canada shall not, for the purposes of proceedings before the foreign tribunal,

    • (a) where the order is in the nature of a prohibition, receive the record or information; or

    • (b) where the order is in the nature of a restriction, receive the record or information if, as a result of so doing, the order may be contravened.

  • Marginal note:Form of orders

    (3) An order made under this section may

    • (a) be directed to a particular person or to a class of persons;

    • (b) relate to a particular foreign tribunal or to a class of foreign tribunals; and

    • (c) relate to a particular record or to a class of records.

  • R.S., 1985, c. F-29, s. 3
  • 1996, c. 28, s. 4

Seizure of Records

Marginal note:Seizure of records for safe-keeping

 Where, on an application by or on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada, a superior court is satisfied that an order made under section 3 may not be complied with in relation to some or all of the records in Canada to which it relates, the court may issue a warrant authorizing a person named therein or a peace officer to seize those records and to deliver them to the court or a person designated by the court for safe-keeping while the order remains in force, on such terms as to access to the records or return of all or any of the records as are fixed by the court having regard to the object to which the order is directed.

  • 1984, c. 49, s. 4

Measures of a Foreign State or Foreign Tribunal

Marginal note:Orders of Attorney General relating to measures of a foreign state or foreign tribunal

  •  (1) Where, in the opinion of the Attorney General of Canada, a foreign state or foreign tribunal has taken or is proposing or is likely to take measures affecting international trade or commerce of a kind or in a manner that has adversely affected or is likely to adversely affect significant Canadian interests in relation to international trade or commerce involving business carried on in whole or in part in Canada or that otherwise has infringed or is likely to infringe Canadian sovereignty, the Attorney General of Canada may, with the concurrence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, by order,

    • (a) require any person in Canada to give notice to him of such measures, or of any directives, instructions, intimations of policy or other communications relating to such measures from a person who is in a position to direct or influence the policies of the person in Canada; or

    • (b) prohibit any person in Canada from complying with such measures, or with any directives, instructions, intimations of policy or other communications relating to such measures from a person who is in a position to direct or influence the policies of the person in Canada.

  • Marginal note:Measures

    (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), measures taken or to be taken by a foreign state or foreign tribunal include laws, judgments and rulings made or to be made by the foreign state or foreign tribunal and directives, instructions, intimations of policy and other communications issued by or to be issued by the foreign state or foreign tribunal.

  • Marginal note:Form of orders

    (3) An order made under this section may be directed to a particular person or to a class of persons.

  • R.S., 1985, c. F-29, s. 5
  • 1995, c. 5, s. 25
  • 1996, c. 28, s. 5(F)
  • 1997, c. 18, s. 127(F)

Service

Marginal note:Service

  •  (1) An order made under section 3 or 5

    • (a) may be served on a person, other than a corporation, to whom it is directed by delivering it personally to him or, if that person cannot conveniently be found, by leaving it for him at his latest known address with any person found therein who appears to be at least sixteen years of age; or

    • (b) may be served on a corporation to which it is directed by delivering it personally to the manager, secretary or other executive officer of the corporation or of a branch thereof.

  • Marginal note:Idem

    (2) Where, on an application by or on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada, a superior court is satisfied that an order made under section 3 or 5 that is directed to a class of persons cannot reasonably be served in the manner described in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) on all or any of the persons included in the class, the court may, by order, authorize service of the order on those persons in such other manner as it considers appropriate.

  • Marginal note:Idem

    (3) An order varying or revoking an order made under section 3 or 5 may be served on the person to whom it is directed in any manner in which the order could have been served on that person.

  • 1984, c. 49, s. 6

Offences

Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  •  (1) Every person who contravenes an order made under section 3 or 5 that is directed to the person and that has been served on the person in accordance with section 6 is guilty of an offence and liable

    • (a) on conviction on indictment,

      • (i) in the case of a corporation, to a fine not exceeding $1,500,000, and

      • (ii) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $150,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both; or

    • (b) on summary conviction,

      • (i) in the case of a corporation, to a fine not exceeding $150,000, and

      • (ii) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

  • Marginal note:Offence outside Canada

    (2) A contravention of an order made under paragraph 3(1)(a) or (c) or 5(1)(a) or (b) that would be punishable as an offence under subsection (1) if committed in Canada is, if committed outside Canada, an offence under this Act that may be tried and punished in Canada as if it were committed in Canada, and proceedings in respect of such an offence may be instituted, tried and determined at any place in Canada.

  • Marginal note:Consent to prosecution required

    (3) No proceedings with respect to an offence under this Act may be instituted without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.

  • Marginal note:Factors to take into account

    (4) In taking into account the circumstances of the offence when determining the sentence for an offence referred to in subsection (1), the court shall have regard, among other things, to the degree of premeditation in its commission, the size, scale and nature of the offender’s operations and whether any economic benefits have, directly or indirectly, accrued to the offender as a result of having committed the offence.

  • R.S., 1985, c. F-29, s. 7
  • 1996, c. 28, s. 6

Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

Orders of the Attorney General

Marginal note:Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996

 Any judgment given under the law of the United States entitled Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 shall not be recognized or enforceable in any manner in Canada.

  • 1996, c. 28, s. 7

Marginal note:Attorney General may declare antitrust judgments not to be recognized or enforceable

  •  (1) Where a foreign tribunal has given a judgment in proceedings instituted under an antitrust law and, in the opinion of the Attorney General of Canada, the recognition or enforcement of the judgment in Canada has adversely affected or is likely to adversely affect significant Canadian interests in relation to international trade or commerce involving a business carried on in whole or in part in Canada or otherwise has infringed or is likely to infringe Canadian sovereignty, the Attorney General of Canada may

    • (a) in the case of any judgment, by order, declare that the judgment shall not be recognized or enforceable in any manner in Canada; or

    • (b) in the case of a judgment for a specified amount of money, by order, declare that, for the purposes of the recognition and enforcement of the judgment in Canada, the amount of the judgment shall be deemed to be reduced to such amount as is specified in the order.

  • Marginal note:Attorney General may declare certain foreign judgments not to be recognized or enforceable

    (1.1) Where a foreign tribunal has given a judgment in proceedings instituted under a foreign trade law or a provision of a foreign trade law set out in the schedule and, in the opinion of the Attorney General of Canada, the recognition or enforcement of the judgment in Canada has adversely affected or is likely to adversely affect significant interests in Canada, the Attorney General of Canada may

    • (a) in the case of any judgment, by order, declare that the judgment shall not be recognized or enforceable in any manner in Canada; or

    • (b) in the case of a judgment for a specified amount of money, by order, declare that, for the purposes of the recognition and enforcement of the judgment in Canada, the amount of the judgment shall be deemed to be reduced to such amount as is specified in the order.

  • Marginal note:Publication and coming into force

    (2) Every order made under subsection (1) or (1.1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette and each order comes into force on the later of the day it is published and a day specified in the order as the day on which it is to come into force.

  • Marginal note:Effect of order

    (3) While an order made under subsection (1) or (1.1) is in force,

    • (a) in the case of an order made under paragraph (1)(a) or (1.1)(a), the judgment to which it relates shall not be recognized and is not enforceable in Canada; and

    • (b) in the case of an order made under paragraph (1)(b) or (1.1)(b), the judgment to which it relates may, if enforceable apart from this Act, be recognized and enforced in Canada as if the amount specified in the order were substituted for the amount of the judgment, and not otherwise.

  • Marginal note:No inference where order not made

    (4) In any proceedings in Canada to recognize or enforce a judgment given by a foreign tribunal in proceedings instituted under an antitrust law, or a foreign trade law or a provision of a foreign trade law set out in the schedule, or to enforce a concurrent or subsequent judgment for contribution or indemnity related to that judgment, no inference shall be drawn from the fact that the Attorney General of Canada has not made an order under subsection (1) or (1.1) in respect of the judgment.

  • R.S., 1985, c. F-29, s. 8
  • 1996, c. 28, s. 7

Marginal note:Judgments satisfied outside Canada

 Where an order may not be made under section 8 in respect of a judgment because the judgment has been satisfied outside Canada, or where a judgment has been given under the law of the United States entitled Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, the Attorney General of Canada may, on application by a party against whom the judgment was given who is a Canadian citizen, a resident of Canada, a corporation incorporated by or under a law of Canada or a province or a person carrying on business in Canada, by order, declare that that party may recover, under the provisions of section 9 that the Attorney General identifies, any or all amounts obtained from that party under the judgment, expenses incurred by that party, or loss or damage suffered by that party.

  • 1996, c. 28, s. 7
  • 2001, c. 4, s. 86(F)
 

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