Key Criminal Law Terminology

KEY CRIMINAL LAW TERMINOLOGY

TERMDEFINITION

Ambit of offence / The scope of legal prohibition
Actus reus / Prohibited acts: any act or omission identified by parliament to warrant state intervention
Examples:

Homicide
Failing to provide

necessities of life
Mens rea / Mental element that accompanies the commission of the actus reus
The act must be done with a “guilty mind”
Subjective culpability / Crown must prove the accused had requisite intent at the time the offence was committed
Objective culpability / People are presumed to intend the natural consequences of their actions
Regulatory offence / Offences that regulate otherwise desirable behaviour (driving, producing goods and services) if those behaviours cause harm to others
Examples:

Traffic offences
Pollution offences
Dangerous commercial practices

Absolute liability offences / Crown must only prove actus reus; mens rea is considered irrelevant
Strict liability offences / Crown must establish that the accused committed the actus reus, but it is open to the accused to avoid liability by proving s/he took reasonable care to avoid committing the actus reus (“due diligence”)
Writ of habeus corpus / Common Law remedy to test the legality of detention or imprisonment
CCRF, s. 24 (2) provides Courts with discretion to exclude evidence from trial if inclusion of the evidence will bring “justice into disrepute”
Indictable Offences / Serious crimes such as murder. Most serious indictable offences are tried before Ontario Superior Court (“superior jurisdiction” - appt. by fed. government). Only a Superior Court judge can preside over a trial jury.
Summary Conviction / Lesser crimes like disturbing the peace
Hybrid Offences / Combination indictable & summary conviction. All summary offences and hybrid offences where Crown opts for a summary conviction are tried before Ontario Court of Justice (“inferior jurisdiction” – appt. by provinces). OCJ also hears less serious indictable offences (theft, fraud, possession of stolen goods)
Search Power / Power of the police to conduct a search which must be authorized by common law or statute.
S. 487 of the Criminal Code / Regarding searches, it requires:

Just Cause – reasonable/probable grounds that an offence has been committed
Judicial Authorization
Specification of objects to be searched

Search incidential to arrest / An exception to s. 487 – allows police to search accused as part of the process of arrest and thus does not require judicial authorization, but the search must be conducted to:

Ensure safety of public/police
Prevent destruction of evidence
Discover evidence

Appearance Notice / Issued by police to inform the accused of the offence, date to appear for fingerprinting etc., & court date
Summons / Issued by judge after arrest (same purpose as above)
Promise to appear / Issued by police officer in charge. Accused agrees to appear for court date. Recognizance – promise to appear and fine paid if one doesn’t appear.