Bill 120 explained in plain English
Mandatory Sexual Assault Law Training for Judicial Officers Act, 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill amends Ontario's Courts of Justice Act and Justices of the Peace Act to require sexual assault law education for candidates and as part of continuing education for provincial judges and justices of the peace.
Bill 120, the Mandatory Sexual Assault Law Training for Judicial Officers Act, 2017, makes changes to the Courts of Justice Act and the Justices of the Peace Act in Ontario. It requires candidates for provincial judge and justice of the peace positions to have completed recent and comprehensive education in sexual assault law. This education must cover specific topics such as evidentiary prohibitions, principles of consent, the conduct of sexual assault proceedings, and education regarding myths and stereotypes about sexual assault complainants. The bill also mandates that continuing education plans for judges and justices of the peace include this type of sexual assault law education. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent, except for specific provisions related to continuing education for judges and justices of the peace, which come into force six months after Royal Assent.
- Amends the Courts of Justice Act to add a requirement that candidates for provincial judge must have completed comprehensive sexual assault law education.
- Amends the Courts of Justice Act to require that the continuing education plan for judges includes education on sexual assault law.
- Amends the Justices of the Peace Act to add a requirement that candidates for justice of the peace must have completed comprehensive sexual assault law education.
- Amends the Justices of the Peace Act to require that the continuing education plan for justices of the peace includes education on sexual assault law.
- Specifies the content of the required sexual assault law education, including instruction on evidentiary prohibitions, principles of consent, the conduct of sexual assault proceedings, and education regarding myths and stereotypes associated with sexual assault complainants.
- Sets out the commencement date for the Act and specific provisions.
- Candidates for provincial judge
- Provincial judges
- Candidates for justice of the peace
- Justices of the peace
- Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee
- Candidates for provincial judge and justice of the peace must complete comprehensive sexual assault law education to be considered for appointment.
- Judges and justices of the peace must complete sexual assault law education as part of their continuing education.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Subsections 1 (2) and 2 (2) of the Act, which relate to continuing education for judges and justices of the peace, come into force six months after the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The bill does not specify the exact curriculum or providers for the sexual assault law education, only that it must be 'recent and comprehensive' and include certain topics.
- The bill does not detail the process by which the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee will ensure candidates have met the education requirement, other than stating it must be 'to the satisfaction of the Committee'.
Adds a requirement that candidates for provincial judge must have completed recent and comprehensive education in sexual assault law, covering specific topics. It also amends the Act to mandate that continuing education for judges must include sexual assault law education.
Source: Section 43 and Section 51.10
Adds a requirement that candidates for justice of the peace must have completed recent and comprehensive education in sexual assault law, covering specific topics. It also amends the Act to mandate that continuing education for justices of the peace must include sexual assault law education.
Source: Section 2.1 and Section 14
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced