Criminal law (chapter 4)

• Crime


  Any act or omission (failing to act), the doing of which is an offence under federal law
• Most criminal laws are contained in the Criminal Code of Canada
• Other criminal offences are contained in other laws (e.g, Youth Criminal Justice Act)
• Conditions for an act to be considered a crime

  • The act is considered wrong by society
  • The act causes harm to society in general or to those (such as minors) who need protection
  • The harm must be serious
  • The remedy/solution must be handled by the criminal justice system
• Purposes of criminal law

  • Protect people and property
  • To discourage potential offenders (deterrence)
  • To rehabilitate those who have already harmed society
  • To punish and denounce wrongful behaviour
• The Criminal Code of Canada is constantly being revised and updates as society's values change
• Types of crimes/offences

  • Summary offence: minor offence
  • Indictable offence: most serious offence (e.g, murder, rubbery)
  • Hybrid offence (also called electable offence or dual procedure offences): in between offence
• Actus reus


  The physical or guilty act, omission, or state of being that constitutes a crime
• Mens rea


  The mental element of one's criminal actions
• Components of mens rea

  • Intention: a person intended to commit the actus reus or illegal act
  • Recklessness/negligence: careless disregard for the possible results of an action or taking a dangerous risk that a reasonable person would not
  • Willful blindness: when someone purposely ignores certain facts or information, turning a blind eye to something
  • Knowledge and motive: knowledge of of certain facts or simply knowing something; motive is an accused's reason for committing a certain act
• Incapable of mens rea


  • Those suffering from a mental disorder
  • Minors (under 12)
  • Those under the influence of drugs or alcohol to such an extent that they don't understand the nature of their actions
• Attempt


  A person who intends or attempts to commit a crime but fails to complete
• Conspiracy


  An agreement between two or more people to commit a crime
• Parties to an offence

  • Principal offender: the accused or the person who did the actual crime
  • Aiding or abetting: a person may be charged with aiding if they assist or help someone commit a crime, the act of encouraging a person to commit a crime is known as abetting
  • Accessory after the fact: if a person knows a crime has been committed but helps the person who committed the crime escape or hide from the police
  • Organized crime: a group of three or more people with a common identity for criminal purposes
• Types of courts in Canada

  • Provincial Court (Criminal Division): arraigns the accused, holds preliminary hearings for very serious indictable offences, hears and tries summary conviction offences and less serious indictable offences
  • Provincial Superior Court (Appeals & Trials): tries the most serious crimes, hears criminal appeals in summary offences, sets provincial precedent
  • Provincial Court of Appeal: final court of appeal in the province, sets provincial precedents
  • Federal Court: hears legal disputes that involve the federal government
  • Supreme Court of Canada: highest court of appeal in the country, hears appeals but only under certain conditions
• quasi-criminal: regulation offence (provincial laws)
• four conditions for an act to be considered a crime:

  1. the act is considered wrong by society
  2. the act causes harm to society in general or to those (such as minors) who need protection
  3. the harm must be serious
  4. the remedy/solution must be handled by the criminal justice system
• criminalize: to make a behaviour a criminal offence in the Criminal Code or other criminal statute
• decriminalize: to make a behaviour that was illegal punishable only by fines
• legalize: to make an act completely legal by removing it from the Criminal Code or other criminal statute
• crime equation:

  actus reus + mens rea = crime