Criminal Law Procedure Liability Review CLU3MI Canadian Law Hergott (2011)

Quick Review Regulatory Offence Criminal Offence “Regulatory offences” SummaryIndictable Hybrid

Comparing Them - Liability Regulatory Offence Criminal Offence “Regulatory offences” SummaryIndictable Hybrid Strict or Absolute Liability Criminal Liability – also called “full mens rea liability”

Comparing Them - Severity SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ The sentence should reflect the severity of the crime.

“Less Serious?” SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Regulatory offences are not necessarily ‘less serious’ than summary conviction offence: consider ‘witchcraft’.

Definition SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Parliament decides what a ‘crime’ is (and by extension, what a criminal offence is)

Grey Areas, and more… SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ One offence can lead to another offence of a different type.

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Parking By-law Parking on the street at 4 am in Waterloo

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ “Parking is not allowed on city streets from 2:30 a.m. to 6 a.m.”

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Someone is in the car, in a school neighbourhood, parked on the street at 4 am, blasting salsa music extremely loudly.

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Causing a Disturbance 175. Every one who (a) not being in a dwelling- house, causes a disturbance in or near a public place, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ There are several people in the car, and after blasting songs and speeches about the disgracefulness of capitalism and suburbia, they decide to go break some residents’ windows to make a point.

Examples SummaryIndictable Hybrid “Regulatory offences” Less serious criminal offences More serious criminal offences Offences against ‘regulatory behaviour’ Riot 65. Every one who takes part in a riot is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.

How Else Can We Distinguish? SummaryIndictable Hybrid Arrests WarrantWarrantless (Dimensions of Law, ) Citizen’s Arrest

Why Warrants? Constitutional Law is Supreme Law: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 9. Everyone has the right not to arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

Why Warrants? Constitutional Law is Supreme Law: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention: a)to be informed promptly of the reasons therefore ; b)To retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right c)To have validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is now lawful

Why Warrants? Constitutional Law is Supreme Law: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention: a)to be informed promptly of the reasons therefore; b)To retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right c)To have validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is now lawful

Why Warrants? Constitutional Law is Supreme Law: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention: a)to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor; b)To retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right c)To have validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful

How Else Can We Distinguish? Summary or Hybrid Indictable Arrests - Simplified WarrantWarrantless (Dimensions of Law, )

Police Officer may arrest, without warrant has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence (reasonable grounds to believe) anyone he finds committing a criminal offence (indictable OR summary) believe that a warrant of arrest is in force

Anyone may arrest, without warrant a person found committing an indictable offence a person who has committed a criminal offence and is escaping from the police

The owner, or any one authorized by the owner of property (“lawful possession”), may arrest… A person whom he or she finds committing a criminal offence on, or in relation to, that property The case of David Chen?

In all citizen arrests, you must hand the accused over to a peace officer as soon as possible.

Racial Profiling and Searches R. v. Brown (Dimensions of Law 274; q 1-3) R. v. Caslake (Dimensions of Law 279; q 1-4) Search Summary PDF