Difference between revisions of "Criminal Charges (1:IV)"

An accused person will have received an appearance notice or a summons requiring them to attend court. Such an appearance notice indicates that the police officer involved in the case believes that they have a case against an accused. After an appearance notice is issued, the police officer forwards a package to the Crown for charge approval. Usually, such charges are approved by the Crown prior to the first appearance in court. By the time an accused attends court, an Information will likely have been sworn. The accused person must attend court on the date required by the appearance notice or summons. If they fail to attend court, a warrant for the accused person’s arrest will usually be issued.   

The attending officers at the scene of an alleged summary conviction or hybrid offence do not always have cause to arrest the suspect (see Section 495(2) ''Criminal Code''). When there is no cause to arrest the suspect but the police still intend to forward charges for an offence, they will serve an appearance notice on the accused compelling them to appear at a future date and time at a courthouse to face potential charges  (see ''Criminal Code'', s. 496)