E/CN.4/2006/7/Add.2 page 6 6. The Working Group also held meetings with representatives of several non-governmental organizations, including the bar associations, relatives of persons in detention and former detainees. II. INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK A. Institutional framework 7. The Constitution of Canada includes two main documents (the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982) and a set of unwritten conventions inherited from the British tradition. The focus of the main documents is the division of powers between the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures, and the protection of individual rights and freedoms in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is part of the 1982 Constitution Act. Canada’s political system can be described as a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary system on the British model, and a representative democracy. Most importantly for the purposes of this report, Canada’s Constitution creates a federal system, in which the powers concerning deprivation of liberty are divided between the federal level and the 10 provinces and three territories (hereinafter “the provinces”). 1. Division of powers between the federal level and the provinces 8. In the sphere of criminal law and procedure, legislation lies with the federal Parliament. The provinces have the power to enact laws sanctioning minor offences. The administration of justice, i.e. the establishment of courts, the initiation of criminal investigations, indictments, and the prosecution of cases at trial, is within the competence of the provinces. Certain offences, the most relevant example being drug-trafficking offences, are prosecuted by the federal Attorney-General. 9. As to detention in the framework of criminal procedure, sentences of two years and more are served in a federal correctional institution. Sentences of less than two years are served in provincial institutions. Whether the offence is prosecuted by the federal or a provincial prosecutor, bail hearings are held before provincial judges or justices of the peace. Detention before and during trial takes place in provincial detention centres. 10. As for immigration legislation (and detention imposed in that context), the competence lies with the federal Parliament and Government. 2. The courts 11. The Supreme Court of Canada is at the apex of the Canadian judicial system. It hears in last instance cases that arise both from the federal court system (for the purposes of the Working Group’s mandate, this means immigration and national security detention cases) and from the provincial court systems. 12. Criminal trials in Canada take place before the superior courts and lower courts set up by each province. The superior courts are constituted by the provincial legislature, but their members are appointed and paid by the federal Government. The lower courts - provincial or municipal courts - are created by the provincial legislatures and their members are appointed by