Canada's anti-stalking laws -- similar to legislation drafted in Bermuda -- have failed to bite, a study shows.

Of 1,110 stalking cases in 1994, 39 percent were dropped and ten percent ended in acquittals.

Just 36 percent resulted in a guilty verdict, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics' report on the three-year-old legislation revealed.

Of those convicted, six in ten got probation and three in ten received a jail term under six months.

The study -- focussing on seven provinces, not including Ontario -- comes just weeks after Bermuda's anti-stalking legislation was tabled in the House of Assembly.

The Stalking Act 1996 will be debated after the House reconvenes in February.

The legislation defines stalking as: following someone; telephoning or sending electronic messages; interfering with property in the possession of the victim or a connected person; entering or loitering outside the home or workplace of the victim or a connected person; and keeping the victim or a connected person under surveillance.

Stalkers face up to 12 months in prison or a maximum $2,500 fine, or both.

It is understood lawmakers had looked to various jurisdictions -- Canada, New Zealand and the United States -- for legislative models for Bermuda.

Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said a recent amendment to the legislation meant an applicant for a protection order did not necessarily have to be the person stalked.

Another amendment included extending the protection order from a maximum of six months to 12.

Honor Desmond Tetlow, the Women's Resource Centre lawyer who influenced the thinking behind Bermuda's anti-stalking law, expressed interest in the Canadian study.

But she added: "Our main emphasis has been to provide for protection orders rather than concentrate on convictions. This study appears to focus on convictions.'' Mrs. Desmond Tetlow accepted legislation would not be a "panacea'' for stalking problems.

She hoped, however, it would provide a better support system for women.

Women's Issues Minister Lynda Milligan-Whyte could not be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts by The Royal Gazette .

Canada's law, passed in 1993, makes it an offence to repeatedly communicate with, call or follow another person or watch their home or workplace. Those convicted face up to five years in prison.

According to The Toronto Star -- which carried the study's results -- the stalker wasn't charged in a quarter of the 7,462 incidents reported to Police.

In these cases, the stalker was usually a co-worker, the study revealed. The Toronto Star quoted Metro Police Sgt. Marilyn McCann as saying: "A lot of victims just want it to stop -- they don't want to go through the aggravation of court.'' She said victims had to gather evidence and keep careful records of what happened. And a credible stalker usually got acquitted -- if it was his word against the victim's.

The study found eight in ten stalking victims were women and 58 percent were stalked by an ex-husband or boyfriend or current husband. Another quarter were stalked by casual acquaintances and the remainder by other family members, strangers or co-workers.

Virtually half the 977 male victims were stalked by a casual acquaintance -- normally another male. Some 11 percent were stalked by co-workers.

The newspaper reported two amendments were in the pipeline to strengthen the stalking law.

One would make a stalker who kills his victim automatically liable for first-degree murder.

The other would increase the penalty faced by stalkers in violation of protective court orders.