1. Criminal Law Three Types of Offences

2. Criminal Law • Criminal Laws are considered to be offences against society. • Criminal Law is intended to maintain order in society. • Criminal Law emphasizes prevention and penalties. • The criminal justice system focuses on rehabilitationand retribution.

3. Criminal Law • As with any effective set of laws, criminal law is constantly evolving with the ever changing needs of society. • As values and beliefs change within a society, so to do the laws. Examples include: • Decriminalization of homosexuality. • Euthanasia • Gun control • Abortion • Pornography

4. Criminal Law • Certain conditions must exist for an act to be considered criminal: • The action must be considered harmful to other people, and society as a whole. • The action must violate the basic values of society. • There must be a procedure in place within the justice system to deal with criminal transgressions.

5. Criminal Law • The Criminal Code is the main source of criminal law in Canada. • The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is also a body of criminal law. • The Youth Criminal Justice Act is also a body of criminal law. • No criminal law can conflict with The Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

6. Types of Criminal Offences • There are three types of criminal offences: • Summary Convictions Offences • Indictable Offences • Hybrid Offences

7. Summary Conviction Offences • Are minor criminal offences. • People charged with these offences can be arrested and summoned to court very quickly. • The maximum penalty for a summary offence is $2000 and/or six months in jail. • Example: The maximum penalty for possession of a narcotic is $2000 and/or one year in jail.

8. Examples of Summary Offences: • Communicate for the purpose of obtaining the sexual services of a prostitute • Cause disturbance • Harassing telephone calls

9. Indictable Offences • Are the more serious criminal offences, and carry more severe penalties than summary convictions. • There is a maximum penalty for each offence – up to life imprisonment (eg. Homicide). • The Trial Judge decides the actual penalty. • Some indictable offences also have a minimum penalty (eg. Impaired Driving can range from $600 fine to five years behind bars depending on the number of previous offences)

10. Examples of Indictable Offences: • Offences which involve a weapon. • Sexual offences • Fraud • Forgery of currency • Proceeds of crimes • Trafficking narcotics

11. Hybrid Offences • Are those where the Crown attorney has the right to proceed summarily, and impose a less severe punishment, or to proceed by indictment. • Theft is an example of a Hybrid Offence. Everyone who commits theft: • is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, where the value of what is stolen exceeds $5000; or • is guilty of an indictable offence not exceeding two years, or punishable on summary conviction where the value of what is stolen does not exceed $5000.