(OTTAWA) Canadian lawmakers on Thursday approved a motion including amendments to the Criminal Code to allow for the prosecution of crimes committed on the moon or in orbit.
Posted at 5:14 p.m.
The changes are in a bill, 443 pages long, dealing mainly with the budget.
One of the amendments provides that “the Canadian crew member who is the author, outside Canada and during a space flight […] an act or omission which, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, shall be deemed to have committed that act in Canada”.
The text, which was approved in the House of Commons by 181 votes to 144, aims to authorize the prosecution of crimes that take place during space flight or on the surface of the Moon.
In addition to Canadian nationals, foreign crew members could also be prosecuted by the country if the acts they committed “injurious to the life or safety of a Canadian crew member” or were committed on board a ship. a Canadian device.
The adoption of the text comes as a Canadian astronaut must participate for the first time in May 2024 in a flight in lunar orbit, as part of the project to build the future lunar station Gateway, carried out at the initiative of NASA. .
He will be part of the crew of Artemis II, the first manned lunar mission since 1972.