On December 14, 2022, the Canadian Parliament passed an anti-trafficking human organ bill——Bill S-223 which received royal assent on December 15 and officially became Canadian Law. The bill amended the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The transplantation of unauthorized organs overseas and the execution, participation or assistance in the removal of organs from the body of another person and any act related to the removal of organs from the body of another person shall be considered as criminal offences. At the same time, Canada will not allow those who have participated in illegal organ trafficking to enter Canada as immigrants or refugees. There are hidden dangers and uncertainties behind Bill S-223, which will bring many potential risks in the future implementation. The bill will also lead to a great waste of criminal and justice resources and occupy the federal government expenditure, but bring no benefit to Canadians.
I.Bill S-223will triggeroverexpansion of criminal and judicial power which will cause abuse of prosecution and even injustice, and violate the freedom, democracy and even the right to life of Canadian citizens.
Canadian law enforcement authorities will be authorized by this bill to crack down on overseas organ harvesting and trafficking activities of Canadian citizens, and have the right to review the exit and entry of Canadian citizens. Improper review will infringe on Canadians’ privacy rights. And the criminal and judicial power is rashly expanded without corresponding evidence collection and supervision mechanism. The law enforcement authorities cannot guarantee that collection of evidence for prosecution is on the threshold of criminal law. And they also lack the ability to track and investigate overseas organ harvesting and trafficking activities to form a full chain of evidence. Hasty prosecution and conviction will lead to abuse of prosecution and even false and wrongful cases, infringing on Canadian citizens’ freedom and democratic rights.
Bill S-223 will also affect the approval process of legal organ transplantation in Canada. Under the pressure of the bill, hospitals will have to deal with the more complicated review procedures. The legal organ transplantation which should be carried out on time will be affected. This will delay the patient’s treatment and even lead to the patient’s death while waiting for the review result, which will undoubtedly violate the right to life of Canadian citizens.
In addition to posing potential threats to the private rights of Canadian citizens, Bill S-223 will also bring many obstacles in the fields of medical and scientific research. Under the pressure of this bill, legal organ transplant experiments and research activities will be restricted and affected. The establishment of transplant-related scientific research projects, the approval of funds and the acquisition of experimental sample materials will all be hindered. Organ transplantation research and development will stagnate and cannot benefit more patients with more advanced medical technology and research results in the future. Finally, Canadians will have to pay for it themselves.
II.Bill S-223 will cause a great waste of criminaland justice resources and occupy the federalfinancial expenditure.
In recent years, there have been growing vicious cases in Canada and the number of murders has increased year by year, which seriously threatens the safety of Canadians’ lives and property, leading to a great sense of insecurity among the people. Instead of focusing on the urgent issue of ensuring the safety of people’s lives, the government unexpectedly gives priority to the overseas organ trafficking investigation. Moreover, there are many difficulties and challenges in obtaining evidence for overseas organ trafficking crimes. Finding a complete chain of evidence, prosecuting and convicting will requires a lot of manpower and financial resources, which will undoubtedly greatly increase the government’s financial expenditure. At present, the financial situation of the federal government is already worrying and the deficit and debt have increased year by year. Canada is now facing serious inflation and economic weakness and people are facing a wave of layoffs. Outside the gates of government agencies, the queue for applying for unemployment benefits is getting longer and longer. At the cabinet meeting in January this year, Prime Minister Trudeau was warned by several economic experts that: “Canada’s economy will slow down significantly, and there is likely to be a more serious economic recession this year. Government must be cautious in spending money！ ” Under the predicament of having to dampen inflation and stabilize the economy, the government should choose to waste taxpayers’ money to do something meaningless but full of risks and dangers, which will occupy the funds that should have been used to improve people’s livelihood. And this bill itself is no good for the Canadian people.
III. Bill S-223 involves extraterritorial jurisdiction which may give rise to diplomatic friction in Canada relations with foreign governments.
The extraterritorial jurisdiction of overseas organ trafficking crimes has been authorized by Bill S-223. And related state acts involving overseas investigation and evidence collection, extradition and arrest will bring potential conflicts and risks, which will trigger friction between Canada and other countries. Canadian Entry and Exit Department will have the right to conduct background review on relevant personnel and prohibit those who have participated in illegal organ trafficking from entering Canada as immigrants or refugees according to the review results. The identification of illegal organ trafficking is complex and time-consuming. And the review method and results are controversial which will bring potential conflicts to the already sensitive issue of migrants and refugees. And this will also bring hidden troubles to the foreign relations between Canada and other countries.
