The proposed amendment to the code, which would include crimes committed on the moon, is deeply rooted in the 443-page budget law that was tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The Penal Code already includes astronauts who may commit crimes during the space flight to the International Space Station. Any such crime committed there is considered to have been committed in Canada. But with Canada part of the Lunar Gateway project, which also includes a planned trip to the moon, the federal government has decided to amend the Penal Code to incorporate these new space destinations.

Canadian headed to the moon

In the Budget Execution Act, subtitled Lunar Gateway – Canadian Crew, the amendment states: “A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside of Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be a felony, is considered to have committed that act or omission in Canada.” This, according to the amendment, includes any act or omission committed at the Lunar Gate, during transport to or from the Lunar Gate or on the surface of the Moon. Canada is committed to participating in the Lunar Gateway, a NASA-backed space platform. Indeed, the 2022 federal budget notes that the 2019 budget announced a $ 1.9 billion investment in 24 years for the construction and operation of Canadarm 3 for the project. In December 2020, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA signed a treaty confirming Canada’s participation in the Lunar Gateway. He also confirmed that a Canadian will be on the Artemis II mission, the first manned mission to the moon since 1972. In anticipation of these missions, the federal government wants to amend the penal code to include potential crimes that could occur. Canada will head to the moon with NASA. The Canadian Space Agency will build robotics for the Lunar Gateway, as well as develop artificial intelligence for the station. (NASA)
The issue of possible space crimes arose in 2019 when NASA investigated what was described as the first alleged crime in space. Astronaut Anne McClain, on a six-month mission to the International Space Station, was accused by her estranged wife, Summer Worden, of having improper access to bank records from space. McClain was later acquitted and Worden was accused of making false statements to federal authorities. But the case has raised potential issues with space law. As the case made headlines, Ram Jakhu, a professor at McGill University’s Institute of Aviation and Space Law, wrote that the inquiry served as an “emergency wake-up call” for new extraterritorial legal rules. With the expected exponential increase in space activities, the number of future space crimes can reasonably be expected to increase in the future, he wrote. These can range from “space killings, spacecraft piracy and a nuclear explosion in space.” “It would be logical and imperative that such rules be the same for all space humans, regardless of the fact that they have different terrestrial nationalities.” The capture of an artist for the big arm of Canadarm 3 at the Lunar Gate, a NASA-led space station in lunar orbit to be used to explore the moon and beyond. (Canada Space Agency, NASA)

International Space Law

There are five international treaties governing space activities, but the 1967 Space Treaty, ratified by Canada and more than 100 other countries, is the most relevant when it comes to tackling space crime, Danielle Ireland wrote. -Piper, Associate Professor. Constitutional and International Law at Bond University, Australia. “As for the question of who pursues space crime, the short answer is that a space traveler will generally be subject to the law of the country of which he is a national or of the country on which the crime was committed,” Ireland – Piper wrote in a 2019 track for The Conversation. The International Space Station has its own intergovernmental agreement stating that “Canada, the European Partner States, Japan, Russia and the United States may exercise criminal jurisdiction over personnel within or on any flight element of which they are nationals.” their”. But if the victim of an ISS crime was a citizen of a different partner country, the criminal law of that other nation would apply, wrote Irleand-Piper. And if a crime took place in the part of a partner country’s space station, criminal law may apply. The International Space Station has its own intergovernmental agreement which states “Canada, the European Partner States, Japan, Russia and the United States may exercise criminal jurisdiction over personnel within or on any flight element of which they are nationals.” their”. (Canadian Space Agency)

The proposed law on Holocaust denial is part of the budget bill

It may seem strange that the federal budget would focus even on issues related to potential space crimes, but it is just one of many proposals included this year that will not necessarily be linked to budget expenditure. For example, the budget also includes a proposal to amend the Penal Code to make it a crime to publicly deny or downplay the Holocaust. It also proposes amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that would prohibit the Canadian Penitentiary Service from using a controversial form of restraint known as “dry celling” where detainees suspected of smuggling into their bodies subject to 24-hour detention. lights and surveillance and are deprived of access to running water. Budget 2022 also proposes amending the Judiciary Act, the Federal Courts Act, and the Canadian Tax Court Act to add 24 new senior court positions. Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said the inclusion of such provisions has become more common, with budget documents growing as governments use the document to also show their position on various issues. “There is a lot in these documents that is, I would say, rhetoric or background. And in fact it is not just saying that we will spend for this or that.” Although the amendments need to be implemented separately, Béland said, their inclusion in the budget has to do with “saying what they support and where they are going”. “So, it’s more likely that they will declare their intention to do something.”