Canadian Criminal Law

Question 1

Bill-C13

Answer 1

made it illegal to share intimate photos of another person without their consent. It was designed to protect young people from cyberbullying.

Question 2

Private law

Answer 2

An area of law that governs and protects the interests of individuals and relationships among individuals

Question 3

defamation

Answer 3

when an individual publishes false and damaging information about another person

Question 4

Public law

Answer 4

An area of law that governs and regulates matters of collective or public interest

Question 5

Statutes

Answer 5

written laws

Question 6

Common Law or Precedent

Answer 6

unwritten laws based on judicial decisions and interpretations of statutes

Question 7

stare decisis

Answer 7

Precedent

Question 8

crime

Answer 8

an act or omission that is prohibited by criminal law. In Canada, crime is legally defined in the Criminal Code

Question 9

regulatory crimes

Answer 9

quasi-criminal laws that refer to offences under regulatory legislation that can be passed by federal, provincial/territorial, or municipal governments.

Question 10

Indictable offences

Answer 10

more serious offences in the Criminal Code and include a greater range of penalties that are spelled out in the charging section

Question 11

Summary conviction offences

Answer 11

less serious offences that carry a max penalty of six months imprisonment and/ or a fine of $5000

Question 12

Hybrid offences

Answer 12

offences where the Crown has the option of proceeding by either summary conviction or indictable offence. Most offences are hybrid

Question 13

The actus reus

Answer 13

“guilty act” refers to the prohibited act or the commission of prohibited act or failure to act in certain situations

• three elements to the actus reus are conduct, circumstances, and consequences of the crime
• the conduct must be voluntary and prohibited
• circumstances refer to the context in which the conduct Is engaged that make it criminal

Question 14

Mens rea

Answer 14

“guilty mind” refers to the intent to commit the prohibited act
-The Crown must prove all of the mental elements of the offence to obtain a conviction.

Question 15

Mental intent takes one of two forms

Answer 15

general intent offences and specific intent offences

Question 16

General intent offences

Answer 16

Require the crown to prove that you intended to commit the offence in question and not particular set of consequences

Question 17

Specific intent offences

Answer 17

Require the crown prove that you intended to a specific outcome when you committed the criminal offence

Question 18

Legal defences are organized into two categories

Answer 18

Excuses defences and Justification defences

Question 19

Excuses defences

Answer 19

the criminal defendant acknowledged or admits that he or she did in fact commit the criminal act (acteus reus) but argues that there was no intent to commit a crime

Question 20

Justification defences

Answer 20

the criminal defendant admits to committing the criminal act but argues that he or she was justified in committing the act under the circumstances

Question 21

Mistake of fact

Answer 21

refers to a excuse defense where an accused individual claims to have committed a criminal act but under the circumstances did not know or believe that they were doing anything illegal (mens rea)

Question 22

Mistake of Law

Answer 22

officially induced error- refers to an excuse defense where an individual has relied on an interpretation of the law provided by a government or public official whose job is to provide people with that advice

Question 23

Insanity defence

Answer 23

excuses defense. “wild beast standard” which is valid if the criminal is insane or mentally ill

Question 24

M’Naghten British standard

Answer 24

the individual must suffer from a serious mental disorder, the mental disorder must impact the individual’s ability to understand what he or she was doing, and the mental disorder must impact the individual’s ability to know their actions are wrong

Question 25

Irresistible Impulse test

Answer 25

A violation standard of insanity that holds that individuals should not be held legally responsible for behaviours that emerge from mental illness that results in an inability to control their own behaviours

Question 26

Automatism

Answer 26

A legal excuse that refers to unconscious or involuntarily behaviours. It is a dissociative state which refers to a disconnection between emotions, identity, memories, and thoughts, in court cases this becomes relevant when it is argued that an accused individual’s behaviours were automatic and not under his or her control

Question 27

Provocation

Answer 27

Section 232 of the criminal code includes a justification defence known as provocation. Provocation refers to a situation where a wrongful act or insult causes the accused individual to completely lose the power of self control

Question 28

Duress

Answer 28

A justification defence for cases where a threat from another person causes another person to commit a crime that he or she would not have otherwise have committed

Question 29

compulsion

Answer 29

a form of duress, an accused individual must establish the following to use compulsion as a defence:

1. He or she committed the crime because they honestly believed there was an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm
2. The threats were made by a person who was physically present when they committed the crime
3. The accused was not a member of a criminal group planning to commit the crime
4. The crime did not include certain offences such as murder or sexual assault

Question 30

Common law defence of duress

Answer 30

does not require a threat of immediate death or body harm, and does not require the person to be physically present when the crime is committed. However the common law defence of duress will fail if you had the opportunity to escape the situation safely

Question 31

Necessity

Answer 31

a form of duress, A legal defence that justifies a normally criminal act in those cases where a force of nature or human conduct causes a person to commit a crime that he or she would otherwise not have committed
Necessity can be used as a legal defence if
1. There was an imminent danger
2. you had no reasonable legal alternative to the course of action you took
3. There was proportionality between the harm you inflicted and the harm you avoided

Question 32

Self defence

Answer 32

Justifies the use of force against another person
-section 34 of the criminal code outline the criteria for self defence
If an individual kills another person in self defence, the following criteria must be met
1. There must be an unlawful assault
2. You must be under a reasonable fear of death or body harm
3. You must have reasonably believed that there was no other way to prevent you own death or body harm