Fight Against Corruption: Quebec Grants UPAC Greater Independence, Authorizes Agreements With Cooperating Witnesses

The recommendations of the Charbonneau Commission report filed in November 2015 continue to resonate within the Quebec legislative landscape. An Act to increase the jurisdiction and independence of the Anti-Corruption Commissioner and the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes and expand the power of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions to grant certain benefits to cooperating witnesses (Act), implementing several of the Charbonneau Commission's recommendations, was passed in the Quebec National Assembly on February 14, 2018, and assented to on the same day.

As the name suggests, the new law mainly increases the independence and jurisdiction of the permanent anti-corruption unit (UPAC) and gives the director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP) the power to offer cooperating witnesses certain incentives. The Act also introduces a new mechanism to appointment a UPAC commissioner, a significant aspect of the bill aimed at ensuring that the commissioner has