Legal Research

Mandatory Reporting of Child Pornography in Ontario

By John Gregory

The Ontario Legislature yesterday passed Bill 37, the Child Pornography Reporting Act, 2008.

The bill was somewhat amended in Committee, notably to tie the definition of child pornography more closely to the Criminal Code definition (though it?s still not identical). You can see the amendments here and the bill as amended in Committee here.

People who commented on the bill on the ULC-ECOMM list in the spring were sceptical of its benefits and of its practicality. No member of the Legislature shared any such doubts, apparently. All three parties supported the bill.

The penalty for not reporting child pornography to the entity to be designated by the regulations can be a fine up to $50,000 and two years in jail.

Manitoba had already enacted something similar. Is this a good model for other provinces to follow?

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on December 05, 2008 (boomark / email).