Canada. Royal Commission on the Criminal Law Relating to Criminal Sexual Psychopaths : The Royal Commission on the Criminal Law Relating to Criminal Sexual Psychopaths was established under Order-in-Council P.C. 445, 25 March 1954, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., c.154, 1952) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon the question whether the criminal law of Canada relating to criminal sexual psychopaths should be amended in any respect and, if so, in what manner and to what extent. The commissioners were James Chalmers McRuer, Chairman; Gustave Desrochers and Helen Kinnear. The secretary was R. Noel Dickson.
In the early 1950s, under the Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1927, c.36), a sexual offender was first tried for the specific crime of which he or she was accused. If convicted, the court could then hear evidence as to whether the offender was a criminal sexual psychopath. This, according to the law, was defined as: "a person who by a course of misconduct in sexual matters, has evidenced a lack of power to control his sexual impulses and who as a result is likely to attack or otherwise inflict injury, loss, pain or other evil on any person." To declare a person a criminal sexual psychopath, the procedure called for the testimony of at least two psychiatrists. If the court determined in the affirmative, on the basis of this testimony, the offender was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than two years and for an indeterminate period thereafter. Every three years after sentencing, the history and the mental state of the inmate was reviewed in order to determine whether or not he or she could be released.
In 1948, the Criminal Code was amended, but the addition of Section 1054a, which applied specifically to criminal sexual psychopaths, was considered to be ineffective. From 1948-1955, only 23 persons were sentenced in Canada under the law. According to testimony heard by the royal commission, the low number of sentences was attributed to the high standard of proof required, as well as procedural difficulties in determining whether or not an offender was a criminal sexual psychopath within the meaning of the law. Therefore, it was thought that a review of the law would likely result in strengthening the Criminal Code provisions relating to it.
On 11 March, the federal Minister of Justice stated in the House of Commons that he intended to have the law relating to criminal sexual psychopaths investigated by a royal commission. In fact, the Minister had discussed the matter with Judge McRuer, who had just been appointed chairman of the Royal Commission on the Law of Insanity as a Defence in Criminal Cases. McRuer was of the opinion that a separate inquiry ought to be held on criminal sexual psychopaths. As a result, on 25 March, the Government of Canada appointed a royal commission on that subject under the chairmanship of Judge McRuer (see 11-12 Geo. VI, c.39, 1948, sec. 43; Report of the Royal Commission on the Criminal Law Relating to Criminal Sexual Psychopaths, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1958, and House of Commons, Debates, 11 March 1954, p. 2895).
Hearings of the commission were held in all the provincial capitals as well as in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver from 29 March 1954 to February 1956. The commission filed 52 submissions. RG33-131 General Inventory
