Are you worried about criminal law in Toronto? There is an assortment of questions regarding getting arrested. Some will be directed towards what to do if charged with a criminal offence and others around the law itself and how much punishment the crime could be worth.
We also hope you enjoy our legal memes found in this article.
When you think about criminal law you think about criminals and prison.
But in reality, petty crimes such as theft are also considered a criminal offence, therefore it’s good to know your rights and what to do in any situation, these questions and answers should clarify just that.
What should I do if I get arrested?
The one vital factor in any arrest is to be advised that you should not say anything. What you say to the police or investigator can be used against you in evidence.
It’s safe to say that getting arrested isn’t exciting or an accomplishment.
However, it is important to remain as calm as possible and be aware that you have the right to be informed and understand why it is you have been arrested or detained. Ask to contact legal representation as soon as possible.
Why do I need legal representation?
There is an old saying that goes “The man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client”. Being arrested for a crime in Toronto, it is crucial to get good legal representation that you can afford to fight for you.
Canada’s criminal law has become a new complex mixture of statutes, common law and precedent.
Although the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has improved rights for those accused, it has also made things a bit more complicated to those who are unaware of the process and new laws.
Seeing as we are speaking on criminal offences, the convictions could result in prison time, jail time, probation, large fines and other penalties.
Going against convictions like these is much easier when you have someone that knows the system well and can help you avoid harsh punishment.
Will my case go to trial?
There is no certainty that your case will go to trial before speaking with your lawyer one on one. However, if you maintain your innocence and decide to go forward with not pleading guilty, then yes there will
Can a charge be dismissed?
If the crown does not present enough evidence proving you are guilty of the charges laid against you, your lawyer or paralegal can then ask the judge to dismiss the charges.
There will be no need for your lawyer or paralegal to present any further evidence and if charges are dismissed, you will be free to go.
When you have a problem with criminal law In Toronto, you need to call a law firm right away.
What is Bail and how does it work?
Bail is referred to the release or detention of a person charged with a criminal offence prior to being tried in court or sentenced.
All individuals charged with an offence have the right to reasonable bail, according to the Canadian Charter of Human Rights.
A judge will decide whether you should be kept in jail or allowed to go back to the community while your case is in criminal court.
If you do end up receiving bail, you will be able to stay in the community while your case is in the court system.
If you have been charged with a less serious offence, you may be released by police with a promise to appear or an undertaking. Without a more serious offence, but if the police do not want to release you then you are entitled to a bail hearing within 24 hours of being charged.
At the bail hearing, the Crown will present evidence indicating why you should not be released.
Your lawyer should be crucial in defending you against the accusations, making representations on your behalf, getting you timely and reasonable bail.
See our article for getting arrested in Brampton.
Can someone with a mental illness be charged with a criminal offence?
According to the Criminal Code of Canada, individuals suffering from a mental illness can be seen as “Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder”.
This was created to protect those suffering from a mental disorder that made them incapable of understanding their actions at the time they committed the crime.
There are also other steps in order to prove that an individual is suffering from a mental illness, for example, if an accused is able to be set out on bail, prior to attending a bail hearing, the judge can order the accused to see a psychologist in Toronto.
This can take place in the courthouse, but the individual is usually sent to a psychiatric hospital.
What is a Provincial or Criminal offence?
Criminal charges are prosecuted under the Criminal Code of Canada. A few examples of charges that are covered under the criminal code are assault, shoplifting or murder.
If you are convicted of a criminal offence, you will then obtain a criminal record and it may be harder to travel and find certain jobs.
Whereas Provincial offences include offences such as traffic offences, for example, speeding, careless driving, not wearing your seat belt, failing to surrender your insurance card or possessing a false or expired insurance card.
They can also include trespassing or failing to leave premises after being directed to do so and other regulated offences prosecuted by the province of Ontario.
How to avoid provincial or criminal offences? Do not break the law! All of this trouble can very simply be avoided by not breaking the law!
Obviously, some situations can result in being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but it also helps to know your rights and try to avoid situations that may result in a bad outcome.
We are hopeful that this information has been helpful to you and the situation that you’re in; or if you’re just reading for fun, possibly learned a thing or two that can help someone else.
Most Frequent Criminal Cases scene in Court in Canada
We have now covered criminal law in Toronto.
The rest of this article will be discussing the most frequent criminal offences heard in court here in Canada.
These cases we will be speaking on today will be adult criminal court cases. They were heard around the years of 2010/2011 all the way up to recently.
We will be looking at statistics from different years. We want to see which cases really are more prone to show up in court here in Canada. The article will also discuss how Covid-19 affected our court systems.
Most adult criminal court cases involve non-violent offences.
In 2010\2011, about three-quarters which are 77% of all cases involved property offences, administration of justice offences, traffic offences or other non-violent Criminal Code or federal statute offences.
In 2014/2015, there were 328,028 cases completed in adult criminal court, which involved 992,635 charges related to Criminal Code and other federal statute offences.
The number of completed adult criminal court cases decreased by 13% from the previous year, which represented the fifth consecutive annual decline, as well as the lowest number of completed adult criminal court cases.
Criminal Law In Toronto
The decrease from the previous year in the number of completed adult criminal court cases occurred throughout the entire country in 2014/2015.
Quebec reported a decrease of nearly 20,000 completed cases (-25%), which was the largest decline in the country, and the largest contributor to the national trend. This was followed by declines of over 10,000 cases in both Ontario (-9%) and Alberta (-21%).
Non-violent offences represented more than three-quarters (77%) of all cases completed in adult criminal court in 2014/2015.
This pattern has been consistent over time and is also comparable with police-reported crime statistics which show that most criminal incidents involve non-violent offences.
There was a decrease in the number of completed adult criminal court cases for all offence types in 2014/2015 compared to the year prior in 2013. It was the largest decrease that occurred in cases involving Criminal Code Traffic Offences which went down by 23%.
Reach Out To ClearWay To Find The Best Criminal Lawyer In Toronto
Then the decrease was followed by another decrease in cases involving other Criminal Code offences such as weapons, prostitution, disturbing the peace and residual Criminal code offences, along with violent offences which had also declined by 15% and 13%.
In 2017, police in Canada reported over 1.9 million criminal code incidents, not including traffic offences. At a rate of 5,334 incidents per 100,000 population, the 2017 police-reported crime rate which measures the volume of crime, increased for the third consecutive year.
At the same time, the crime severity index (CSI) which measures both the volume and severity of police-reported crime, also increased for the third consecutive year, from 71.7 in 2016 to 72.9 in 2017.
Toronto Criminal Law
Despite these increases, both the police-reported crime rate and the CSI have decreased substantially from a decade earlier in 2007 which is -23% and -24%. In addition, both the violent crime rate and the violent CSI have decreased over the last decade which would be -19% and -18%.
The next most common criminal offence in Canada is homicide which is the willful killing of one human being by another and is often used as a key indicator for violent crimes, as it is the most reliably reported violent crime and the easiest to compare against other countries. In 2019, Canada’s homicide rate was 1.8 homicides per 100,000 residents.
Blog: How To Get A Good Job With A Felony
Crimes During COVID-19
In 2020, things are a little bit different now that we have been confronted with Covid-19. To shift to remote operation during the pandemic, the court system was forced to adapt to the modern world in ways it had been resisting.
The Law Society of Ontario began allowing the virtual commission of documents after several months, hearings resumed largely by zoom instead of in-person to adhere to physical distancing protocols.
Virtual hearings have introduced a new set of considerations for how to best promote access to justice in our court system – while hearings over zoom may make court proceedings accessible to more people, they also may impact the privacy of participants, and may make certain aspects of the judicial process like credibility assessments more challenging.
Seeing as Covid-19 put life on pause, that meant that court proceedings were put on pause as well and as mentioned, in 2020 the Supreme Court of Canada held far fewer decisions than an average year.
However, there were still numerous highly significant decisions that will have far-reaching effects on several fields of law over the coming years.
Several of the most significant decisions were employment law cases which all resulted in meaningful law developments within employment law. A few of these cases are Matthews v Ocean Nutrition, Uber v Heller, and Fraser v Canada (Attorney General).
Criminal Law In Toronto
I stated some employment laws despite this blog being in the direction of criminal law. But for good reason. It was an area of law that was focused on in courts last year while criminal law cases weren’t as dramatic.
Although, there were several significant criminal law cases such as R v Zora,2020 SCC 14 [Zora]. That was focused on bail, reiterating that the default for bail should be pre-trial release on an undertaking to attend the trial,. Those additional conditions should only be imposed where reasonable and necessary. They should be the least onerous possible in the circumstances.
Changes in Criminal law
The law changes all the time. Therefore, this is a good topic to learn about considering that different laws mean different penalties. The criminal justice system (CJS) plays a critical role in ensuring the overall safety, wellness, and productivity of Canadians.
There have been efforts to ensure that Canada is a just and law-abiding society.
A society with an accessible, efficient, and fair system of justice. These values directly contribute to the well-being of the country.
Helping Canadians feel safe in their communities and have confidence in their justice system improves their quality of life. It also helps their contribution to Canada’s prosperity.
A successful criminal justice system
A successful criminal justice system is dependent upon the success of several separate but interrelated components. These include Law enforcement, Prosecution services, the Defence bar, and the Courts. It can also include Legal aid, Victim Services, and Correctional Services. Finally the Legislatures of which enact the law.
Criminal law has changed in response to technological advances, for example, recent amendments to the criminal code concerning theft of telecommunications and credit card fraud and provisions regulating the use of wiretap surveillance.
One of the most significant changes within Canadian criminal law is the massive increase in mandatory minimum sentences.
The conservative government has limited the discretion of sentencing judges in many more situations than has ever been the case previously. Also, where offences already carried mandatory minimum penalties, the government has often increased the length and severity of those sentences.
There are a lot of ways to deal with Criminal Law problems In Toronto. You need someone with experience to give you advice.
Criminal Law In Toronto
Impaired driving offences have long carried mandatory minimum penalties. But in recent years, the government has increased the severity of those sentences.
Since 2005, the mandatory minimum for a first offence has increased from a $600.00 fine to one of $1,000.00. The mandatory minimum sentence for a second offence has increased from 14 days imprisonment to 30 days.
A third (or higher) offence now carries with it at least 120 days of imprisonment. Previously, a third (or higher) offence carried a mandatory minimum of 90 days imprisonment. That meant judges could permit offenders to serve their sentences on weekends.
It’s no longer possible, however. This is because the Criminal Code does not permit such intermittent sentences. This is true where the penalty is more than 90 days.
Most sexual offences involving children now carry mandatory minimums. Previously, as with almost all other criminal offences, sentencing for these crimes was left to the discretion of the courts.
Judges usually imposed jail sentences when sexual offences were committed against persons under the age of 18.
Blog: Can You Admit A Crime To Your Lawyer?
Criminal Law In Toronto and Criminal Rules
However, the current government has changed the law. Now almost all such offences are punishable by at least 90 days of imprisonment. Or to a minimum of one-year imprisonment for more serious matters.
More serious sexual offences against children bring with them even more severe mandatory punishments.
This government has also imposed mandatory minimum penalties where none existed previously to produce illegal drugs.
In 2012 the government enacted laws by which the growth of more than five marijuana plants is punishable. There can be a minimum of 6 months imprisonment. Larger numbers of plants bring longer mandatory minimums.
Production of harmful substances
Persons involved in the production of more harmful substances (including opium-based drugs such as heroin; cocaine in any form; and methamphetamines, to name only a few) are subject to mandatory minimum sentences of at least two years imprisonment.
Impaired driving offences have long carried mandatory minimum penalties. But in recent years, the government has increased the severity of those sentences.
Since 2005, the mandatory minimum for a first offence has increased from a $600.00 fine to one of $1,000.00. The mandatory minimum sentence for a second offence has increased from 14 days imprisonment to 30 days. A third (or higher) offence now carries with it at least 120 days of imprisonment.
Criminal law in Toronto is always changing, and that’s why you need to speak to an attorney.
Getting arrested in Toronto
Previously, a third (or higher) offence carried a mandatory minimum of 90 days imprisonment. It meant judges could permit offenders to serve their sentences on weekends. This is no longer possible, however, because the Criminal Code does not permit such intermittent sentences. This is true where the penalty is more than 90 days.
Another change that amounts to a “mandatory minimum” form of penalty is victim surcharge penalties. It can be imposed upon offenders for at least the theoretical purpose of funding programs to assist victims of crime.
Until late 2013, sentencing judges had the power to waive the imposition of this penalty. This was true if ordering payment would cause undue financial hardship to offenders or their dependants.
Mandatory minimums
Now, the government has doubled the penalty amounts and taken away the power to waive payment due to hardship. All offenders are now required to pay these amounts or to perform community service work instead.
There’s one area in which the courts had long been asking Parliament to address the issues.
And that area involves defence or “self-defence.” Also, the areas of “defence of others” (and “defence of property”).
For many years, the Criminal Code contained several overlapping and complicated sections which described different tests to be applied where accused persons used force – and sometimes caused injury or death to others – to defend themselves or third parties.
Criminal Law In Toronto Directions
Judges and lawyers found the provisions difficult to understand and apply. They are trying to give legal direction to laypersons who were asked to serve on juries frequently became a nightmare.
In 2012 the government repealed the old provisions. It replaced them with two sections. One to apply where the accused acts to defend him/herself or other persons. The other applies where an accused is defending property.
Now, the basic question comes down to whether the actions of the accused are reasonable. This is judged in the circumstances of the case. The Criminal Code sets out several factors to be considered.
This includes:
- the nature of the threat to the individual and whether weapons were involved
- any difference in size, age, gender or physical abilities or disabilities between the parties
- the background of any history or relationship between them
- whether the accused had any other options besides resorting to force.
These are just a few of the changes being made in the legal system in Canada, specifically around criminal law. Every change impacts the penalties for each offence.
Some areas needed a change more than others but still, numerous laws have been changed. There is still much more to do and learn going forward each day.
There must be a ton of money to be made with criminal law in Toronto. People are always stabbing each other, and getting into trouble. It seems to be part of the culture in Brampton, start a gang, sell drugs. Stab people.