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Difference between revisions of "Charging Someone with a Criminal Offense (Script 215)"
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Charging Someone with a Criminal Offense (Script 215) (view source)
Revision as of 22:34, 17 August 2017
, 22:34, 17 August 2017→What if the prosecutor won’t charge the person?
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Listen carefully to the prosecutor because they are experts in criminal law. If you have new information, the prosecutor may send you back to the police. In that case, what happens next will depend on what the police choose to do. If you disagree with the police’s decision, you can follow the police complaint process described above. | Listen carefully to the prosecutor because they are experts in criminal law. If you have new information, the prosecutor may send you back to the police. In that case, what happens next will depend on what the police choose to do. If you disagree with the police’s decision, you can follow the police complaint process described above. | ||
'''Charge the person yourself'''—if the police won’t investigate or the prosecutor won’t charge the person and you still disagree with their decisions, you can ask a Justice of the Peace (a JP) to charge the person based on a ''private information''. If the offence is in the ''Criminal Code'', a JP has to accept the charge. Even if the JP accepts the charge, in a typical case, unless there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will likely end it (or | '''Charge the person yourself'''—if the police won’t investigate or the prosecutor won’t charge the person and you still disagree with their decisions, you can ask a Justice of the Peace (a JP) to charge the person based on a ''private information''. If the offence is in the ''Criminal Code'', a JP has to accept the charge. Even if the JP accepts the charge, in a typical case, unless there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will likely end it (or '''stay the prosecution''') because a prosecutor has to meet a higher standard to prove a charge than a JP needs to accept one. | ||
If the prosecutor does not stay the charge, you still must convince a provincial court judge to order the person charged to attend court, and the judge can issue an arrest warrant or a summons to do this. You must show the judge there is some evidence that the person committed each part of the crime (this is called a ''prima facie case''). If you do that, the prosecutor may ask the judge to adjourn or postpone the case (meaning delay it until they get more information) before issuing a warrant or a summons so the police can investigate the matter. After the police investigate, if the prosecutor decides there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will take over. If the prosecutor decides the case lacks merit and stays it, you can call the Crown counsel office and speak to the prosecutor’s supervisor who can explain the reasons for their decision. | If the prosecutor does not stay the charge, you still must convince a provincial court judge to order the person charged to attend court, and the judge can issue an arrest warrant or a summons to do this. You must show the judge there is some evidence that the person committed each part of the crime (this is called a ''prima facie case''). If you do that, the prosecutor may ask the judge to adjourn or postpone the case (meaning delay it until they get more information) before issuing a warrant or a summons so the police can investigate the matter. After the police investigate, if the prosecutor decides there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will take over. If the prosecutor decides the case lacks merit and stays it, you can call the Crown counsel office and speak to the prosecutor’s supervisor who can explain the reasons for their decision. | ||
