Child pornography laws in Canada forbid the production, distribution, and possession of
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
, which are punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of $5,000.
Visual and written representations
Prohibition covers the visual representations of
child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...
and other sexual activity by persons (real or imaginary) under the age of 18 years or the depiction of their
sexual organ
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
/anal region for a sexual purpose, unless an
artistic
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...
, educational, scientific, or medical justification can be provided and the court accepts that.
It also includes the written depictions of persons or characters (fictional or non-fictional) under the age of 18 engaging in sexual activity.
[''Criminal Code'', RSC 1985, c C-46, s 163.1](_blank)
as enacted by SC 1993, c 46, s 2. Courts in Canada can also issue orders for the deletion of material from the internet from any computer system within the court's jurisdiction.
The current law criminalizes possession of purely fictional material and has been applied in the absence of any images of real children, including to possession of fictional stories with no pictures at all, or vice versa, cartoon pictures without any stories.
Some current law is unenforceable to the extent of exemptions carved out by the Supreme Court of Canada in ''
R v Sharpe
''R v Sharpe'', 2001 SCC 2 is a constitutional rights decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. The court balanced the societal interest to regulate child pornography against the right to freedom of expression possessed by the defendants under sec ...
''.
The Internet
In 2002, laws passed addressing child pornography on the Internet, regulating the nature of live-time chatting and email communications that may relate to
grooming children for pornographic (e.g., web cam) or other sexual purposes. The laws also criminalize the possessing of child pornography.
Criminal Code provisions
Canadian laws addressing child pornography are set out in Part V of
''Criminal Code'' dealing with Sexual Offences, Public Morals and Disorderly Conduct: Offences Tending to Corrupt Morals. Section 163.1 of the Code defines child pornography to include "a visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means", that "shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity", or "the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years."
The current minimum penalty for possession of child pornography is six months of imprisonment.
Cases
Eli Langer art show trial
One early application of this law was the
Eli Langer
Eli Langer (born 1967 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian visual artist. Langer rose to prominence in 1993, while 26 years old, in the Toronto art world with a solo exhibition at the Mercer Union Gallery in Toronto. The exhibition consisted of 8 ...
case. In 1993, this Toronto artist had an exhibition at the Mercer Gallery. His drawings included images of children in sexual positions. Police raided the gallery and confiscated the works. Langer was eventually acquitted after a trial because his work was considered artistic enough to be justified as protected speech.
''R v Sharpe''
The whole law against simple possession of child pornography was declared void for two years in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
following a 1998 ruling (''R v Sharpe'') by the Supreme Court of British Columbia, but this decision was subsequently overturned by the Canadian Supreme Court.
Moreover, the definitive 2001 Supreme Court ruling on the case interprets the child pornography statute to include purely fictional material even when no real children were involved in its production.
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...
wrote,
The court also carved out some exemptions to the law.
Gordon Chin trial
In October 2005, Canadian police arrested a 26-year-old
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta man named Gordon Chin for importing Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
depicting explicit
hentai
Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...
of
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
. Chin's attorney claimed Chin did not know it was illegal, and that he was naive. Chin was sentenced by the judge to an eighteen-month conditional sentence, during which he was barred from using the Internet. This is the first-known manga-related child pornography case in Canada. It is also the first-known case that exclusively prosecutes this offense, not used in conjunction with other laws to increase sentencing.
Canadian Convicted of Possessing Hentai Kiddie Porn
by Darklady of YNOT
See also
* Legality of child pornography
Child pornography is illegal in most countries, but there is substantial variation in definitions, categories, penalties, and interpretations of laws. Differences include the definition of "child" under the laws, which can vary with the age o ...
** Child pornography laws in the United States
Child pornography laws in the United States specify that child pornography is illegal under federal law and in all states and is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of $5000. The Supreme Court of the United States has found child ...
** Child pornography laws in Australia
Child pornography laws in Australia prohibit all sexual depictions of children under an age set by state and territory legislation. The relevant ages are under 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Austral ...
** Child pornography laws in the United Kingdom
Child pornography laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978 ("the 1978 Act"), which made it illegal to take, make, distribute, show, or possess for the intent of showing or distributing ...
** Child pornography laws in Portugal Child pornography laws in Portugal state that such pornography is statutorily criminalised in the Portuguese Criminal Code.
Age of consent
The age of sexual consent in Portugal is, in principle, 14 years of age. The participation of underage pe ...
** Child pornography laws in the Netherlands Child pornography laws in the Netherlands declare child pornography illegal, making it one of the 103 out of 193 UN member states where it is illegal.
Dutch law referring to child pornography
According to the Wetboek van Strafrecht:
* Article 2 ...
** Child pornography laws in Japan
The production, sale, distribution, and commercialization of child pornography in Japan is illegal under the ''Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children'' (1999), and is pun ...
References
{{Pornography legality, state=collapsed
Law of Canada
Canadian pornography
Child pornography law
Childhood in Canada