News release

Amendments Make Out-of-Province Investigations Easier

Justice

Provincial enforcement officers will have more tools to investigate people and companies based in other provinces that break the law in Nova Scotia.

Justice Minister Ross Landry announced amendments to the Summary Proceedings Act today, Nov. 5, that will allow provincial enforcement officers to collect evidence from out of province for investigations.

Currently, enforcement officers have no authority to gather evidence outside of Nova Scotia.

"If evidence is not located in Nova Scotia, enforcement officers have no authority to access it. That's just not reasonable," said Mr. Landry. "These changes will help ensure that people and companies who break our laws can be investigated and held accountable for their actions, whether they are based in Nova Scotia or not."

Nova Scotia will be the first province to add a provision for out-of-province search warrants to its legislation. This will allow the province to make reciprocal agreements with other provinces so Nova Scotia search warrants can be enforced in other jurisdictions.

"This is a very positive first step," said Peter Craig, senior Crown attorney with the Public Prosecution Service. "This will make the work of prosecutors across the country much easier. It will facilitate investigations and lead to more successful prosecutions."

Workplace accidents, speeding, hunting while disqualified and creating a disturbance while on a trail are all examples of offences that provincial enforcement officers, and sometimes police, investigate under provincial legislation.