The Elements of the Offence and Prior Knowledge
Under the Criminal Code in force, terrorist financing is defined in a dedicated provision — Article 331. Under its first part, the offence is the collection or provision of funds or other property with prior knowledge that they will or may be used, in whole or in part, by a terrorist or a terrorist organization or for terrorist activity, or for the commission of one of the specific crimes enumerated in the Code, regardless of whether any of them has actually been committed.
The same part covers the provision of services to a terrorist or a terrorist organization with prior knowledge, the provision of a refuge or shelter, resourcing or any other material support. The core of this composition is the subjective side — prior knowledge: where a person does not know that the funds or the service serve a terrorist destination, the offence does not exist. Proving that knowledge is the prosecution's central difficulty and the defence's central opportunity.