LAW 12 – MUNDY
APPEARANCE NOTICES
 Used for:
 SUMMARY OFFENCES
 HYBRID (DUAL-PROCEDURE) OFFENCES
 LESS SERIOUS INDICTABLE OFFENCES
 Notice is a document given to accused indicating:
 Charge being laid
 Location and date of court hearing (accused is required
to appear)
 Accused must sign appearance notice
APPEARANCE NOTICES
 Notices differ from ARRESTS in that accused is not
incarcerated leading to court hearing, nor subject to
same procedure as an accused under arrest
 At court hearing, peace officer will swear an
INFORMATION to the court stating the reasonable
grounds that the accused committed the crime
ARRESTS
 Used for:
 (SERIOUS) INDICTABLE OFFENCES
 During arrest, officer MUST:
 Identify himself (name and indication that she/he is an
officer)
 Advise the accused that he/she is under arrest
 Inform the accused of the charge(s)
 Touch the accused to signify that she/he is now legally
in police custody
ARRESTS
 Purposes of arrest are to:
 Lay a charge
 Preserve evidence
 Prevent accused from committing any further crimes
ARRESTS
 If accused RESISTS ARREST:
 Officers are allows to use as much force as necessary to
prevent escape
 Officers may also use up to deadly force if:
 Suspect behaves in manner that indicates threat of
serious harm or death
 Suspect flees in order to escape arrest
 No lesser means of subduing accused will be effective
 NOTE that officers are CRMINALLY LIABLE for the
use of unnecessary force
WARRANT FOR ARREST
 3rd method of bringing accused to court:
 SUMMONS is a document that calls accused to appear
in court for a charge, usually if suspect flees officers
 Summons are issued by judges upon receipt and
review of an officer’s INFORMATION, then delivered
to accused by sheriff or deputy
WARRANT FOR ARREST
 WARRANT FOR ARREST is issued when determined
by judge from an INFORMATION that a suspect will
not appear in court voluntarily
 WARRANT indicates the accused (by name and
description) and offence, and orders that the accused
be arrested as soon as possible and brought before a
judge
 Warrants are issued when judge determines from an
information that there are reasonable grounds for
arrest
OFFICERS’ RIGHT OF ARREST
 Officers may only arrest (without need of warrant) one
accused of committing an offence when:
 Suspect has been observed (by officers) committing
either an indictable or summary offence
 Suspect has committed an indictable offence in the past
or is attempting to commit an indictable offence
 Officers may arrest at any time (past offences,
attempted offences) for any type of offence if a warrant
is issued
CITIZENS’ RIGHT OF ARREST
 Section 494 of Criminal Code of Canada allows a
citizen to arrest a suspect when:
 Accused is observed in act of committing an indictable
offence
 Suspect is being actively pursued by peace officer(s) for
either summary or indictable offences
 Accused is committing a summary offence on citizen’s
property (and is observed by citizen)
 This allows security guards the powers of arrest while
protecting store property, for example