1. Unit 3 –The Criminal Code
CLU3M - Law
Unit 3 –The Criminal Code
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2. The Criminal Code Agenda: Introduction to the Criminal Code
Violent Crimes
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3. Introduction – The Criminal Code
Reflects the social values of Canadians
Federal statute
Main body of criminal law
Offences listed and described precisely
To ensure people are not arrested on a criminal charge if they are involved in non-criminal matter
To ensure someone is not set free on a technicality
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4. Introduction – The Criminal Code cont.
301,875 Violent incidents
Criminal Code Incidents (2000)
24 million Criminal Code incidents
Other 3%
Sexual
Assault 8%
Robbery 9%
Assault
Level 2,3
15%
Violent Incidents
Other 34 %
Violent
Incidents
13%
Assault
level 1
65%
Property 53%
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5. Violent Crime In Canada (2007)
Province / Territory
Rate per ppl
Alberta
1.9 BC
2.1
Man
2.6 NB
1.3
NFL & Labrador
1.1
NWT
2.4 NS
1.6
Nunavut
10.8
Ont
PEI
2.2
Quebec
2.0
Sask
2.5
Yukon
6.5
Homicide Rates (2000)
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6. What is the murder capital of Canada?
Winnipeg!
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7. Homicide in Canada
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9. How are Crime Rates Determined?
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10. Violent Crimes Harm to the human body.
Historically a part of criminal law (Code of Hammurabi)
About 13% of all criminal code offences are of a violent nature.
Including:
Homicide
Assault
Sexual offences
Abduction
Robbery
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11. Homicide
homicide
Killing another human being, directly or indirectly, is homicide
It’s a criminal offence if it’s culpable (deserving of blame)
Murder, manslaughter, and infanticide
Culpable homicide
non-culpable homicide
Accident
Self-
defence
murder
manslaughter
infanticide
First
degree
Second
degree
Non-culpable homicide is not criminal and occurs when death is caused by complete accident or in self- defense
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12. Intentional killing of another person-
Intentional killing of another person- although can be charged without intent
Murder
First degree
This is planned &deliberate (considered consequences)
Victim is in law enforcement
Offense occurs offensive crime is being committed
Max Penalty … Life with no parole for 25 years
Second degree (intentional murder yet does not fit into any of the above categories
The deliberate murder of a human . Not Planned
Max Penalty … 25 years with no parole for 10 years
Causation: Cause of death. Necessary to prove causation in order to convict a person of first-degree murder
Crown must prove that the accused actions resulted in a substantial cause of death in the victim
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13. Manslaughter
Causing death of a human, directly or indirectly, by means of an unlawful act
Not murder rather it requires only general intent
Example: Speeding down a road, crash into a little old lady and kill her.
The mens rea - a reasonable person would recognize that the unlawful act could physically harm or kill the victim.
0-25 years
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14. Manslaughter Defence
When someone charged with murder is convicted of manslaughter
Provocation: In the heart of passion (caused by provocation)
Provoked by a wrongful act / insult,
Must be something that would cause an ordinary person to lose self-control (excepting drug / alcohol)
Intoxication: (affects the person’s ability to predict the consequences of their actions
Crown must prove both the killing and the necessary intent if the accused uses the intoxication defence
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15. Manslaughter continued
The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind
Voluntary Manslaughter
occurs when the defendant kills with malice (intention to kill or cause serious harm), but there are mitigating circumstances which reduce culpability
or when the defendant kills only with an intent to cause serious bodily harm
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16. Manslaughter continued
Involuntary Manslaughter
is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice (intent). It is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention.
constructive manslaughter
It occurs when someone kills, without intent, in the course of committing an unlawful act
criminally negligent manslaughter
an omission to act when there is a duty to do so which leads to a death
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17. SO…WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
As an illustration, consider the following scenario. Dan comes home to find his wife in bed with Victor. Distraught, Dan heads to a local bar to drown his sorrows. After having five drinks, Dan jumps into his car and drives down the street at twice the posted speed limit.
If Dan had killed Victor in a "heat of passion" at the time he discovered the affair, then he could be charged with voluntary manslaughter. However, if Dan instead accidentally hit and killed a pedestrian while driving recklessly and intoxicated, he could be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
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18. R. v. Lavallee
Lavallee and her common law partner Rust (the victim) had an abusive relationship, however she kept coming back. On the night of the killing, there was a party at their house. Rust hit her and told her that she was going to "get it" when all the guests left. He threatened to harm her, saying "either you kill me or I'll get you". During the altercation Rust slapped her, pushed her and hit her twice on the head. At some point during the altercation he handed Lavallee a gun, which she first fired through a screen. Lavallee contemplated shooting herself, however when Rust turned around to leave the room she shot him in the back of the head. She was charged with murder. A psychiatrist gave expert evidence at trial describing her state of mind, and that she felt as though she was "trapped" and that she would have been killed if she did not kill him. The jury acquitted her at trial, but this was overturned at the Court of Appeal who ordered a new trial. Lavallee appealed this order to the Supreme Court.
QUESTION: Is Lavallee guilty of murder? If so is it first degree, second degree, or manslaughter?

19. Battered Women Syndrome
The battered person syndrome first rose to prominence in the 1970s, when it was used as a legal defense for abused women who murdered their husbands in a pre-meditated fashion. Defense lawyers used the syndrome to explain premeditation as follows: the woman could not leave the relationship due to learned helplessness. Nor could they fight back when actually being attacked. In the face of increasing violence, the woman's belief was that the only way she could protect herself and her children was to eliminate the partner when he was more vulnerable, for example, while sleeping.
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20. Who is Meredith Katharine?
Between 2008 and 2010, Meredith Katharine Borowiec gave birth to three babies in her Calgary home. Each time, she wrapped the newborn in a towel, tied it up in a garbage bag and put it in a dumpster. The first two were lost forever, but the third, a boy, was rescued in October 2010, leading to her arrest, as she observed the scene. A police officer noticed blood on the blanket she wore wrapped around her waist, and EMS personnel noticed stretch marks on her abdomen. She soon admitted what she had done.
Is Meredith Katherine guilty?

21. Infanticide Killing of a newborn by his or her mother
Accused not yet recovered from the effects of child-birth and is suffering from depression or mental disturbance (possibly hormones)
Max sentence: imprisonment 5 years
Charges seldom seen before the courts
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23. * This next section will not be part of the quiz
The End
* This next section will not be part of the quiz
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24. Suicide and Euthanasia
Offence to counsel anyone to commit suicide or to help them accomplish the deed
Until 1972 – offense to commit suicide
Assisted Suicide – a controversial issue
For
Against
Some chronically ill Canadians believe they have a right to be assistance when they wish to commit suicide
Disability rights groups oppose believing that people who have disabilities may be pressured to end their lives
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25. Euthanasia Mercy killing: A person acts to end another person’s life
Assisting a suicide
Voluntary euthanasia – When you help a terminally ill person (whom has expressed a wish to die) end their life
Involuntary euthanasia -When you help a terminally ill person (whom has expressed a wish to die) end their life
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26. R. v. Latimer
Robert Latimer's daughter, Tracy Latimer, was 12 years old and had cerebral palsy. As a result, she was quadriplegic, could not speak, and had the mental abilities of an infant. However, she was not dying of her disability. It was also believed that a feeding tube could help keep her healthy, but her parents believed that such a medical device would be intrusive. Thus, numerous surgeries were performed, and after the scheduling of another surgery in 1993, Mr. Latimer, formed the view that his daughters life was not worth living. Mr. Latimer thus poisoned his daughter with carbon monoxide. When police made the discovery, Mr. Latimer denied responsibility, but later admitted that the had killed her.
Question: Is Robert Latimer guilty? OR was he just worried about his daughters quality of life?
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27. R v. Sue Rodriguez
Sue Rodriguez was a 42-year-old mother whose illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or "Lou Gehrig's disease") was diagnosed in By 1993 it was found that she would not live more than a year, and so she began a crusade to strike down section 241(b) of the Criminal Code, which made assisted suicide illegal, to the extent that it would be illegal for a terminally ill person to commit "physician-assisted" suicide.
She applied to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to have section 241(b) of Criminal Code struck down as it violated sections 7 (the right to "life, liberty, and security of the person), 12 (protection against "cruel and unusual punishment"), and 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (equality)
QUESTION: Should people have the right to make their own decisions about when they want to end their life?
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28. Violent Crimes continued
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29. Assault
C. Criminal Code has recently amended it’s laws on assault due to societies growing concern.
Defined as”applying” intentional force to another person directly or indirectly with out consent.
Key to assault → Intent. If the action is the result of carelessness or reflex, rather than intent → no assault
A threat can be an assault if there is an ability to carry it out at the time it is made
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30. Serious assault (levels 2 and 3), police-reported rate, 1983 to 2009
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31. Assault continued 3 Levels of Assault Level 3 - Aggravated Assault
Level 2 – Assault Causing Bodily Harm
Level 1 - Assault
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32. Assault 1
Applying intentional force to another person, either directly or indirectly, without that person’s consent
Attempting or threatening, by an act or gesture, to apply force
Approaching or blocking the way of another person, while openly carrying a weapon or an imitation of a weapon
Harmful words – not an assault if not accompanied with a gesture
Consent not necessarily given because someone participates in an activity
Olympic Boxer – consents to being hit with gloved fists, not to being bitten, kicked or eyegouged.
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33. Assault 2 – Causing bodily harm
When someone, while committing assault, carries, uses, or threatens to use a weapon or imitation of a weapon
Causes ‘bodily harm’
Anything that interferes with the victim’s health or comfort in more than a momentary, insignificant way
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34. Assault 3 – Aggravated Assault
Most severe assault
When a person maims, disfigures, or endangers the life of the victim
Mens rea – only to commit bodily harm
Defense of consent may not be accepted in some circumstances of this level of assault
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35. Sexual assault Conduct must have occurred in a sexual context
Sexual Assault laws rewritten in the 1980s
Three levels - similar to the 3 levels of assault.
Important considerations when distinguishing sexual assault
Conduct must have occurred in a sexual context
Body part touched
Nature of the contact
Situation in with the assault took place
Actus reus of sexual assault is the sexual touching to which the victim does not consent
The mens rea of sexual assault can rest in knowledge that the victim gave no consent; recklessness; or willful blindness (perpetrator avoids asking the victim if consent is being given).
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36. Sexual Assault
Level 1
Same as assault 1, except that it occurred in relation to sexual conduct
Level 2
272(1) “Every person… who, in committing a sexual assault:
Carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation of a weapon
Threatens to cause bodily harm to a person other than the complainant
Caused bodily harm to the complainant
Is a party to the offence with any other person, is guilty of an indictable offense and liable… to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years – general intent offence
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37. Sexual Assault continued
Level 3 Aggravated sexual assault
Most severe form of sexual assault
Section 273:
Every one who commits an aggravated sexual assault who, in the committing a sexual assault, wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant
Every person who commits an aggravated sexual assault is guilty of an indictable offense and liable… to imprisonment for life.”
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38. Other Sexual Offenses
Law protects young people from being pressured into sexual relationships with older people
Forbidden to touch for sexual purposes, a part of the body of a person under 14
Consent irrelevant – unless the accused is less than 3 years older than the victim
Forbidden to touch for sexual purposes…. If you are in a position of authority, the body of a person under 18, or the person is in a relationship of trust or dependency with the accused
Not knowing the age of the victim is NOT a valid defense.
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39. Other Sexual Offenses continued
General offenses
Commit bestiality
Commit indecent acts in public places
Commit incest
In the home of a person under 18, participate in sexual immorality thereby endangering the morals of the child or rendering the home as an unfit place for a child to be in
Exploit sexually a person with a mental or physical disability
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40. Abduction Few child abduction cases involve strangers
Abduction: The forcible removal of an unmarried person under the age of 16 from the care of a parent/guardian etc….(including foster parents)
Divorce is increasing abduction is increasing! – different charge
Enticing:
When a custodial parent refuses to give access to a child according to the terms of an agreement
When a non-custodial parent detains or runs away with a child during a time of access
Defense: a) the other parent gave consent or
b) to protect the child
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41. Robbery Theft involving violence
Threat of violence
Assault
Use of offensive weapons
Imitation of weapon is accepted by the courts as threat of violence
Masking or colouring one’s face with the intent to commit an indictable offense
Crown bases its case on the threat of violence
Must prove that the victim felt threatened
Reasonable and probable grounds for the fear
Max = life
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42. Robbery, police-reported rate, Canada, 1979 to 2009
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43. Review (text pages 220-245) Questions:
What constitutes a violent crime?
Distinguish between culpable and non-culpable homicides
Identify the mens rea and actus reus of murder
Distinguish between first- and second-degree murder and describe the penalties for each
Identify the mens rea and actus reus of manslaughter
Under what circumstances could a charge of murder be reduced to manslaughter?
Identify the factors that must be present for a culpable homicide to be considered infanticide.
Distinguish among the three levels of assault
Distinguish among the three levels of sexual assault
In what situation is consent not a defence to sexual assault?
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