Three Types of Offences
 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 rehabilitation and
retribution.
 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
 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.
 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.
 There are three types of criminal offences:
 Summary Convictions Offences
 Indictable Offences
 Hybrid 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.
 Communicate for the purpose of
obtaining the sexual services of a
prostitute
 Cause disturbance
 Harassing telephone calls
 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)
 Offences which involve a weapon.
 Sexual offences
 Fraud
 Forgery of currency
 Proceeds of crimes
 Trafficking narcotics
 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.