![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a
worldwide view of the subject. (September 2019) |
![]() | This article needs attention from an expert in law. The specific problem is: criminal/parliamentary law applies to multiple jurisdictions.(September 2019) |
Intimidation of Parliament is a criminal law in Canada that makes it a crime to violently intimidate the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The maximum sentence is fourteen years. It reads:
Intimidating Parliament or legislature
51. Every one who does an act of violence in order to intimidate Parliament or the legislature of a province is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. [1]
The law is one of only a handful of criminal offences, [2] including treason and piracy, that are automatically heard by the relevant provincial superior court—composed of federally appointed, [3] salaried, [4] and disciplined [5] judges—rather than the inferior Provincial courts, which are composed of provincially appointed [6] judges. It is a very rare crime. One of the few individuals to be charged with the crime in recent decades was Charles Yacoub who hijacked a Greyhound bus and had it driven onto Parliament Hill in 1989. In his trial, Yacoub was later found not guilty of the particular charge. [7]
![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a
worldwide view of the subject. (September 2019) |
![]() | This article needs attention from an expert in law. The specific problem is: criminal/parliamentary law applies to multiple jurisdictions.(September 2019) |
Intimidation of Parliament is a criminal law in Canada that makes it a crime to violently intimidate the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The maximum sentence is fourteen years. It reads:
Intimidating Parliament or legislature
51. Every one who does an act of violence in order to intimidate Parliament or the legislature of a province is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. [1]
The law is one of only a handful of criminal offences, [2] including treason and piracy, that are automatically heard by the relevant provincial superior court—composed of federally appointed, [3] salaried, [4] and disciplined [5] judges—rather than the inferior Provincial courts, which are composed of provincially appointed [6] judges. It is a very rare crime. One of the few individuals to be charged with the crime in recent decades was Charles Yacoub who hijacked a Greyhound bus and had it driven onto Parliament Hill in 1989. In his trial, Yacoub was later found not guilty of the particular charge. [7]