1st Session, 43rd Legislature
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Bill 29
THE BODY ARMOUR AND FORTIFIED VEHICLE CONTROL AMENDMENT ACT
| Bilingual version (PDF) | Explanatory Note |
(Assented to )
HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
1 The Body Armour and Fortified Vehicle Control Act is amended by this Act.
2 Section 1 is amended
(a) by adding the following definitions:
"after-market hidden compartment" means a compartment installed in a vehicle that is prohibited under section 24.1. (« compartiment après-vente caché »)
"Personal Property Registry" means the Personal Property Registry continued under The Personal Property Security Act. (« Bureau d'enregistrement relatif aux biens personnels »)
(b) by replacing the definition "compliance notice" with the following:
"compliance notice" means a compliance notice issued under section 19 or 24.3. (« avis de mise en conformité »)
3 Section 2 is amended by striking out "body armour and fortified vehicles" and substituting "body armour, fortified vehicles and vehicles with after-market hidden compartments".
4 Subsection 7(2) is amended by striking out everything after "forfeited to the Crown".
5 The centered heading before section 19 is replaced with the following:
COMPLIANCE NOTICES AND FORFEITURE OF FORTIFIED VEHICLES
6(1) Subsection 19(1) is amended, in the part before clause (a), by striking out "may serve" and substituting "must issue and serve".
6(2) Subsection 19(2) is amended
(a) in clause (e), by striking out "and destroyed by the director"; and
(b) in clause (f), in the part before subclause (i), by adding "or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle" after "owner of the vehicle".
7 Subsection 20(1) is amended by striking out everything after "Personal Property Registry".
8 Subsection 21(3) is repealed.
9(1) Subsection 23(1) is amended by adding "or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle" after "compliance notice".
9(2) Subsection 23(2) is amended by striking out everything after "is served".
9(3) Subsection 23(5) is amended
(a) in the part before clause (a),
(i) by striking out "owner's", and
(ii) by adding "and any person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle" after "on the owner";
(b) in clause (b), by striking out "owner's"; and
(c) in clause (c), by striking out everything after "forfeited to the Crown" and substituting "unless the seizure and detention costs and the costs to remove the fortifications set out in the notice are paid to the director within 21 days after the application was dismissed.".
9(4) Subsection 23(6) is amended by striking out "owner of a vehicle" and substituting "owner of the vehicle or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle".
10 The following is added after Part 3:
PART 3.1
AFTER-MARKET HIDDEN COMPARTMENTS
PROHIBITION
After-market hidden compartments prohibited
24.1(1) A person must not own or operate a vehicle that contains a compartment that
(a) was not part of the vehicle manufacturer's design of, or equipment for, the vehicle; and
(b) is incorporated into the structure or equipment of the vehicle after it has left the factory in which it was manufactured in a manner that makes the compartment hidden or difficult to detect.
24.1(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to
(a) a vehicle that contains a storage compartment or safe that is
(i) designed by its manufacturer for after-market installation in a vehicle,
(ii) sold to the general public by retail vendors of automotive or security equipment, and
(iii) attached to the vehicle in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions; and
(b) a prescribed person or a prescribed class or type of vehicle.
SEIZURE
24.2(1) If an inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that a vehicle contains an after-market hidden compartment, the inspector must seize the vehicle.
24.2(2) The inspector must ensure that the seized vehicle is taken into custody of the director, who may detain it for not more than 60 days and may conduct any further inspections of the vehicle that the director considers necessary.
24.2(3) If the owner of the detained vehicle was not present when it was seized, the director must take all reasonable steps to notify the owner that the vehicle has been seized.
Personal property to be returned
24.2(4) The director must return any personal property in the detained vehicle to the owner of the vehicle at the owner's request unless the property is required as evidence in a prosecution or in connection with an investigation of an offence under this Act.
24.2(5) The director must return the detained vehicle to its owner if further inspection of the vehicle determines that it does not contain an after-market hidden compartment.
COMPLIANCE NOTICES AND FORFEITURE OF VEHICLES
24.3(1) When a vehicle that has been seized under section 24.2 is not returned to its owner, the director must issue and serve a compliance notice on
(a) the owner of the vehicle; and
(b) any person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle.
24.3(2) The compliance notice must include the following information:
(a) the year, make and vehicle identification number of the vehicle that is the subject of the notice;
(b) a description of the after-market hidden compartment in the vehicle;
(c) a statement of the costs to seize and detain the vehicle until the deadline set out in clause (e);
(d) a statement of the cost to remove the after-market hidden compartment from the vehicle, certified by the director;
(e) a statement that the vehicle will be forfeited to the Crown unless — before a deadline set out in the notice — the owner of the vehicle or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle pays to the director the seizure and detention costs and the costs to remove the after-market hidden compartment set out in the notice;
(f) a statement that the owner of the vehicle or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle may seek to quash the notice and have the vehicle returned by
(i) filing a notice of application with the court within 14 days after the notice was served, and
(ii) serving the notice of application on the director.
24.3(3) The deadline referred to in clause (2)(e) must be at least 21 days after the director issues the compliance notice.
24.3(4) The compliance notice must be served in the prescribed manner.
Notice in Personal Property Registry
24.4(1) As soon as possible after issuing a compliance notice, the director must file notice of the compliance notice, in the prescribed form, against the vehicle that is the subject of the compliance notice in the Personal Property Registry.
24.4(2) The director must apply to have the notice under subsection (1) discharged as soon as reasonably possible after
(a) the vehicle that is the subject of the compliance notice is returned to the owner under section 24.6 (return of vehicle when after-market hidden compartment removed); or
(b) the court makes an order quashing the compliance notice under section 24.7 (application for return of vehicle).
24.5(1) Subject to section 24.8 (no action re seized vehicle), a vehicle that is the subject of a compliance notice is automatically forfeited to the Crown if the director does not receive the seizure and detention costs and the costs to remove the after-market hidden compartment from the vehicle by the deadline set out in the notice.
No assumption of security interest
24.5(2) The Crown does not assume any covenants or other obligations under a security interest or other lien or charge on a forfeited vehicle.
Return of vehicle when hidden compartment removed
24.6 If — before the deadline set out in the compliance notice — the costs to seize and detain the vehicle and remove the after-market hidden compartment from the vehicle set out in the notice are paid to the director, the director must return the vehicle to its owner after the compartment has been removed from the vehicle.
APPLICATION TO COURT
Application for return of vehicle
24.7(1) The owner of a vehicle that is the subject of a compliance notice or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle may apply to the court for an order quashing the notice and requiring the vehicle to be returned to the owner.
24.7(2) The notice of application must be filed with the court and served on the director within 14 days after the compliance notice is served.
24.7(3) The director is a party to the application and is entitled to be heard, by counsel or otherwise, at the hearing of the application.
24.7(4) The court may make an order quashing the compliance notice and requiring the vehicle to be returned to its owner if the court is satisfied that the vehicle does not contain an after-market hidden compartment.
24.7(5) If the court dismisses the application, the director must serve a revised compliance notice on the owner and any person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle that
(a) contains the information set out in clauses 24.3(2)(a), (b) and (d) of the original compliance notice;
(b) sets out the costs to seize and detain the vehicle until 21 days after the application was dismissed; and
(c) contains a statement that the vehicle will be forfeited to the Crown unless the seizure and detention costs and the costs to remove the after-market hidden compartment set out in the notice are paid to the director within 21 days after the application was dismissed.
24.7(6) Subsection 24.3(4) and sections 24.5 and 24.6 apply to a revised compliance notice, with necessary changes, except that the owner of the vehicle or a person with a prior registered interest in the vehicle must not apply to court to quash a revised compliance notice.
24.8(1) When an application under section 24.7 has been filed, the director may not take any action in respect of the vehicle that is the subject of the compliance notice except in accordance with this Act or an order of the court.
24.8(2) Despite subsection 24.2(2) (detention of seized vehicle), once an application under section 24.7 has been filed, the director may continue to detain the vehicle until the application has been heard, dismissed or abandoned.
11(1) Subsection 26(1) is amended by adding "or contains an after-market hidden compartment" after "fortified vehicle".
11(2) Subsection 26(3) is amended by adding "or contains an after-market hidden compartment" at the end.
12 Section 33 is amended by striking out everything after "remove fortifications" and substituting "or after-market hidden compartments from a vehicle.".
13 Subsection 34(1) is amended
(a) by striking out "a fortified vehicle that is forfeited and destroyed under section 21" and substituting "a vehicle that is forfeited under section 21 or 24.5"; and
(b) by striking out "seizing, detaining and destroying" and substituting "seizing and detaining".
14 Clause 35(b) is amended by striking out everything after "the removal of" and substituting "any fortification or after-market hidden compartment from a vehicle.".
15 The following is added after section 35:
Exception from seizure requirements
35.1 An inspector is not required to seize a vehicle under section 18 or 24.2 if the vehicle has been seized by a police service in connection with an investigation conducted by the police service.
16 Clause 36(1)(g) is amended by adding "or after-market hidden compartments" after "fortifications".
17 This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation.