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Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act (S.C. 2015, c. 4, s. 120)

Act current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2017-01-01. Previous Versions

Nuclear Claims Tribunal (continued)

Governor in Council’s Declaration (continued)

Marginal note:Effect of declaration

  •  (1) Section 34 ceases to apply in respect of a nuclear incident on the day on which a declaration is made under subsection 36(1), and any proceedings brought or taken before the declaration is made are discontinued.

  • Marginal note:New jurisdiction

    (2) Any claims that could have been made before the declaration is made are, after the day on which it is made, only to be brought before the Tribunal.

Report to Parliament

Marginal note:Report on nuclear incident

 The Minister must, without delay, after a declaration is made under subsection 36(1), cause a report estimating the cost of the indemnification for the damage arising from a nuclear incident to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Interim Financial Assistance

Marginal note:Interim financial assistance

  •  (1) During the period that begins when a declaration is made under subsection 36(1) and ends when the notice is published under subsection 42(2), the Minister may pay interim financial assistance to persons who, in the Minister’s opinion, have suffered damage as a result of the nuclear incident to which the declaration relates. The Minister must inform the Tribunal of the names of those persons and the amounts paid.

  • Marginal note:Maximum amount

    (2) The maximum amount that is to be paid under subsection (1) must not exceed 20% of the difference between

    • (a) the amount set out in subsection 24(1), and

    • (b) the total amounts that are paid by the operator, before the declaration is made under subsection 36(1), to compensate persons for damage arising from the nuclear incident.

Marginal note:Power to make agreements

 The Minister may enter into an agreement with any person, association of insurers or province for the carrying out of the Minister’s duties or functions by that person, association of insurers or province in relation to the payment of interim financial assistance.

Establishment of a Nuclear Claims Tribunal

Marginal note:Tribunal’s establishment

  •  (1) The Governor in Council must, as soon as feasible after a declaration is made under subsection 36(1), establish a nuclear claims Tribunal and designate the location of its head office in Canada.

  • Marginal note:Purpose

    (2) The Tribunal’s purpose is to examine and adjudicate claims for damage arising from the nuclear incident as expeditiously as the circumstances and considerations of fairness permit.

  • Marginal note:Claims treated equitably

    (3) The Tribunal must carry out its duties and functions with respect to claims for damage in an equitable manner, without discrimination on the basis of nationality or residence.

Marginal note:Public notice

  •  (1) The Tribunal must notify the public, in a manner that it considers appropriate, of the details of its purpose and how to obtain information on bringing a claim.

  • Marginal note:Publication

    (2) A notice of the Tribunal’s purpose and how to obtain information on bringing a claim must also be published, without delay, in the Canada Gazette.

Marginal note:Members of Tribunal

  •  (1) The Governor in Council must appoint a minimum of five persons to the Tribunal, one of whom is to be designated as the chairperson.

  • Marginal note:Members’ qualifications

    (2) A majority of the members of the Tribunal are to be appointed from among persons who are sitting or retired judges of a superior court or members of at least 10 years’ standing at the bar of a province or the Chambre des notaires du Québec.

  • Marginal note:Remuneration

    (3) The members are to be paid the remuneration and expenses fixed by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Term of office

 Each member of the Tribunal is to be appointed to hold office during good behaviour for a term that the Governor in Council considers appropriate and may be removed for cause.

Marginal note:Immunity

 No civil proceedings lie against any member of the Tribunal for anything done or omitted to be done by the member in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of a power or in the performance or purported performance of a duty or function of the Tribunal.

Marginal note:Tribunal’s staff

 The Tribunal may employ the staff that it considers necessary for the proper conduct of its duties or functions, prescribe their duties and, subject to any regulations, their terms and conditions of employment and, with the approval of the Treasury Board, fix and pay their remuneration.

Marginal note:Technical or specialized knowledge

 The Tribunal may engage, on a temporary basis, the services of counsel and other persons having technical or specialized knowledge to assist the Tribunal in its work, establish the terms and conditions of their employment and, with the approval of the Treasury Board, fix and pay their remuneration and expenses.

Marginal note:Inconsistency

 In the event of an inconsistency between a provision of the Judges Act and any provision of this Act that is applicable to a sitting or retired judge, the Judges Act prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

Tribunal’s Powers and Duties

Marginal note:Hearings

 The Tribunal is to hold its hearings in Canada at the times and locations that it considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Intervenor

 The Attorney General of Canada and the competent authority of any other Contracting State may intervene in proceedings that are before the Tribunal.

Marginal note:Powers — witnesses and documents

  •  (1) The Tribunal has, with respect to the attendance, swearing and examination of witnesses, the production and inspection of documents, the enforcement of its orders and other matters that are necessary or proper for the due exercise of its jurisdiction, all of the powers, rights and privileges that are vested in a superior court.

  • Marginal note:Evidence at hearings

    (2) The Tribunal is not, in the hearing of any claim, bound by the legal rules of evidence, but it must not receive as evidence anything that would be inadmissible in a court by reason of any privilege under the law of evidence.

  • Marginal note:Foreign evidence

    (3) The Tribunal may issue commissions to take evidence outside Canada and may make orders for that purpose and for the return and use of the evidence so obtained.

Marginal note:Examinations

 The Tribunal may require persons claiming compensation to undergo medical or other examinations that are, in the Tribunal’s opinion, reasonably necessary to enable it to determine their claims.

Marginal note:Frivolous or vexatious claims

 The Tribunal may refuse to hear any claim referred to it that it considers to be frivolous or vexatious.

Marginal note:Report on Tribunal’s activities

 The Tribunal must, at the Minister’s request, submit to him or her a report on its activities. The Minister must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after he or she receives it.

Marginal note:Rules

 The Tribunal may make any rules that it considers necessary for the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties and functions, including rules respecting

  • (a) procedures for bringing claims;

  • (b) the form and manner in which evidence is to be submitted;

  • (c) a quorum;

  • (d) procedures that claims officers are to follow in dealing with claims;

  • (e) fees and travel expenses that are to be paid to witnesses;

  • (f) the allowance of costs; and

  • (g) appeals and rehearings.

Claims

Marginal note:Panels

  •  (1) The chairperson may establish panels of the Tribunal consisting of one or more members to hear claims.

  • Marginal note:Claims officer

    (2) The Tribunal may, in order to process claims expeditiously, establish classes of claims that may be determined by the claims officer without an oral hearing and designate as a claims officer anyone that it considers qualified.

  • Marginal note:Powers and duties

    (3) A panel or claims officer must exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Tribunal with respect to claims that are before that panel or claims officer.

Marginal note:Notice

 The chairperson must assign a claim to a panel or claims officer and notify the claimant, the operator and the Minister of the assignment.

Marginal note:Public hearings

 Panel hearings are to be held in public. However, a panel may hold all or part of a hearing in private if, in its opinion, a person’s privacy interest outweighs the principle that hearings be open to the public.

Marginal note:Interim award of compensation

  •  (1) The Tribunal may award interim compensation in respect of a claim that is heard by it before it makes a decision with respect to the claim.

  • Marginal note:Payment

    (2) The Tribunal must inform the Minister of the amount of the interim compensation awarded, and the Minister must pay that amount to the claimant.

Marginal note:Notice — decision

  •  (1) The Tribunal must notify the claimant and the operator of its decision with respect to the claim.

  • Marginal note:Awards of compensation

    (2) If the Tribunal decides to award compensation in respect of a claim, the notification must also be sent to the Minister and must indicate

    • (a) the amount of the award;

    • (b) any reduction in that amount applicable under the regulations; and

    • (c) any amounts that have already been paid with respect to the claim in accordance with this Act.

  • Marginal note:Costs and interest

    (3) The amount of the award must not include any costs awarded to the claimant in any proceeding that is before the Tribunal or any interest payable on that award.

Rehearing and Appeal

Marginal note:Rehearing of claims officer’s decision

 A claimant or operator who is dissatisfied with a claims officer’s decision may, within 30 days after receiving notification of the decision, apply to the Tribunal for a rehearing by a panel.

Marginal note:Appeal

  •  (1) If a claim has been heard by a panel that consists of fewer than three members, the claimant or operator may, within 30 days after receiving notification of the decision, apply in writing to the chairperson for leave to appeal.

  • Marginal note:Hearing of appeal

    (2) The appeal is to be heard and decided by a panel consisting of three other members.

  • Marginal note:Decision

    (3) The appeal is to be heard on the basis of the record of the panel whose decision is appealed and on the submissions of interested parties. The panel hearing the appeal may, in exceptional circumstances, if, in its opinion, it is essential in the interests of justice to do so, admit additional evidence or testimony.

Marginal note:Judicial review

 Subject to sections 61 and 62, every decision of the Tribunal is final and conclusive and is not to be questioned or reviewed in any court except in accordance with the Federal Courts Act on the grounds referred to in paragraph 18.1(4)(a), (b) or (e) of that Act.

Financial Provisions

Marginal note:Payment of awards

 At the end of the period to apply for a rehearing or make an appeal, the Minister must pay to the claimant the amount of the award less the total of the amounts referred to in paragraphs 60(2)(b) and (c).

Marginal note:Recovery of overpayment

 Any overpayment is a debt that is due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in accordance with section 155 of the Financial Administration Act.

Marginal note:Payments out of Nuclear Liability Account

  •  (1) All payments made by the Minister are to be paid out of the Nuclear Liability Account.

  • Marginal note:Advances to account out of C.R.F.

    (2) If the amount standing to the credit of the Nuclear Liability Account is insufficient for the payment of the amounts that are required, an amount that is sufficient to meet the deficit is, with the Minister of Finance’s approval, to be paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and credited to the Nuclear Liability Account.

Marginal note:Operator’s liability to Her Majesty

  •  (1) When a declaration is made under subsection 36(1), the operator who is liable for the damage that is caused by a nuclear incident must pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada an amount that is equal to the lesser of

    • (a) the amount set out in subsection 24(1) —  or, if the operator is subject to a regulation made under paragraph 24(2)(b), the amount set out in that regulation — less the total amounts that were paid by the operator to compensate persons for damage arising from the nuclear incident before the declaration under subsection 36(1) is made, and

    • (b) the total of all amounts that are paid by the Minister under section 64.

  • Marginal note:Failure to pay

    (2) If the operator fails to pay any amount that is due, it must be paid to Her Majesty in right of Canada by

    • (a) the approved insurer, for the financial security that is in the form of insurance; or

    • (b) the issuer of the financial instrument, for alternate financial security.

  • Marginal note:Amount paid by operator, approved insurer or issuer of security

    (3) The operator, the approved insurer or the issuer of the financial instrument, as the case may be, must pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada, at the Minister’s request, any amount that is specified in the request.

  • Marginal note:Limitation

    (4) The total amount that is requested by the Minister under subsection (3) in respect of any year must not be more than the total amount that is paid by the Minister under section 39, subsection 59(2) and section 64.

  • Marginal note:Debt due to Crown

    (5) An amount that is not paid as required under subsection (3) is a debt that is due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in accordance with section 155 of the Financial Administration Act.

  • Marginal note:Nuclear Liability Account

    (6) Any amount received by Her Majesty in right of Canada under this section is to be credited to the Nuclear Liability Account.

 

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