1. Criminal Law Unit 2

2. Why should some behaviors be considered a crime? Victims of the behavior Direct – crime against specific person(s) Indirect-society How is society a victim? Financial cost, human cost, psychological cost, behavioral cost

3. To be considered a crime… Act or omission considered wrong by society Causes harm to society in general Harm must be serious Remedy/solution is handled by the criminal justice system

4. Classifications of Crimes Classification is based on the SERIOUSNESS of the offence 3 classifications Indictable Summary Conviction Hybrid or Dual Procedure

5. Why do we need to classify crimes? Based on the seriousness of the offence, the following are affected: Procedures followed by the police (Ex. Arrest, searching etc.) Court process and which court will be used (Ex. Preliminary hearing, bail, jury) Range of Possible punishments available How it is treated is usually defined in the criminal code.

6. I.Indictable offences Most serious of all offences Ex. Murder, armed robbery, kidnapping

7. II.Summary Conviction Offences Also just called “Summary” offences Least serious of all types of offences Ex. Theft under $5000, prostitution, tresspassing.

8. III.Hybrid or Dual Procedure Offences Some offences may be considered as either summary OR indictable If they can be treated as either/or, then they are said to be HYBRID Crown is asked by the judge to decide how they wish to treat the crime. Usually based on the consequences of a behavior or circumstances Until stated by the crown, it would be treated as serious! Ex. Assault, public mischief, failing to stop at the scene of an accident.