BILL NO. 15
1st Session, 58th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
48 Elizabeth II, 1999
Public Prosecutions Act (amended)
The Honourable Michael G. Baker
Minister of Justice
First Reading: November 4, 1999
Second Reading: November 8, 1999
Third Reading: November 16, 1999 (NO AMENDMENTS)
Explanatory Notes
Subclause 1(1) removes wording in the Public Prosecutions Act that would appear to require a job search for a new Director of Public Prosecutions to be carried out in as little as fifteen days.
Subclause 1(2) provides that the Governor in Council may appoint a person to be Acting Director of Public Prosecutions while a vacancy exists in the office of Director of Public Prosecutions for a reason other than removal from office for cause. Clause 2 requires a notice to be published in the Royal Gazette when the Attorney General exercises statutory functions pursuant to clause 6(e) of the Public Prosecutions Act. Clause 3(a) provides that the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions shall meet at least twelve times a year to discuss policy matters, including existing and contemplated major prosecutions; and
(b) authorizes the Director of Public Prosecutions to exceed the budget in any year by not more than five per cent for the purpose of undertaking an extraordinary prosecution.
An Act to Amend Chapter 21
of the Acts of 1990,
the Public Prosecutions Act
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 (1) Subsection 5(3) of Chapter 21 of the Acts of 1990, the Public Prosecutions Act, is amended by striking out "fifteen sitting days after the Assembly is next sitting or until" in the sixth and seventh lines.
(2) Section 5 of Chapter 21 is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following subsection:2 Clause 6(e) of Chapter 21 is amended by adding "and shall cause notice of such action to be published at the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions as soon as practicable in the Royal Gazette" immediately after "Prosecutions" in the last line.
3 Chapter 21 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 6 the following Sections:
6B (1) In this Section, "extraordinary prosecution" means an unexpected or unforeseen prosecution that cannot be undertaken within the budget appropriated for the public prosecution service but is of such a magnitude and importance that, in the opinion of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the prosecution should be undertaken notwithstanding the lack of financial resources.
(2) The Director of Public Prosecutions may spend in any fiscal year an amount that is not more than five per cent more than the amount appropriated for the public prosecution service for that year for the purpose of undertaking an extraordinary prosecution.
(3) The Governor in Council shall provide the additional funds referred to in subsection (2) through a supplementary appropriation.
(4) Where the Governor in Council has provided the funds referred to in subsection (3) and deems it advisable to conduct a review of the need for the additional funds, the Governor in Council may appoint a qualified person to conduct the review.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 1999 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created November 25, 1999. Send comments to legc.office@gov.ns.ca.
