An Act to amend the Director of Public Prosecutions Act

This bill changes federal law so that the Director of Public Prosecutions (a federal official who oversees criminal prosecutions) will take on responsibility for prosecuting minor, summary conviction offences created under First Nation laws, such as band bylaws made under the Indian Act, laws made under the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, or laws enacted under self-government agreements. This would apply on behalf of the First Nation that created the law, meaning the federal prosecutor would handle these cases rather than leaving First Nations without a prosecution mechanism.

There is an important exception: if a First Nation has already appointed its own prosecutor, hired one, or made an arrangement with a provincial or territorial government to prosecute these offences, the federal Director of Public Prosecutions will not get involved. In other words, the bill fills a gap for First Nations that currently have no one to prosecute breaches of their own laws, while respecting existing arrangements where a First Nation already has that capacity in place.

The bill also adds new legal definitions of "First Nation" and "First Nation law" to the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, and updates the definition of "prosecution" in that Act to accommodate this new responsibility. These are technical changes needed to make the new prosecutorial duty function within the existing law.

This bill amends the Director of Public Prosecutions Act to give the Director of Public Prosecutions the duty to prosecute summary conviction offences created under First Nation laws, on behalf of the First Nation involved, unless that First Nation has made other arrangements.

• Who gains the duty — the Director of Public Prosecutions, a federal office, must initiate and conduct prosecutions of summary conviction offences under First Nation laws, and any related appeals, on behalf of the First Nation that made the law.
• Scope of "First Nation" and "First Nation law" — defined to include bands under the Indian Act, First Nations under the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act, First Nations under federally implemented self-government agreements, and the bylaws or laws enacted by any of these.
• Exception, and who triggers it — the Director must not prosecute if the First Nation itself has appointed or retained its own prosecutor, or has entered into an agreement with a provincial or territorial government for prosecuting such offences; the First Nation's own action determines whether the Director's duty applies.
• Discretion left undefined — the bill does not specify procedures, resources, or timelines for how the Director is to carry out these prosecutions, nor how conflicts or overlaps with existing provincial/territorial arrangements are to be resolved.
• Oversight — the bill contains no reporting requirement, review mechanism, or sunset clause specific to this new duty.