The Federal government enacts criminal law in Canada. The Criminal Code contains many of the offences in Canada, ranging from traditional crimes such as murder, assault and robbery to newer crimes such as Internet luring.
While the Code contains many crimes, there are also many other offences contained in other Federal statutes and regulatory offences that are defined in legislation enacted both by the Federal government and by the Provinces or municipalities. Criminal offences must be consistent with the supreme law of the land. A criminal law may be unconstitutional if it infringes a right or freedom protected by the Charter and if it cannot be justified under section 1 of the Charter as a reasonable and demonstrably justified limit on the right. The basic elements of a criminal offence are: the act that is prohibited by the legislation, and the fault element or intention required of an accused that is alleged to have committed the prohibited act. Consequently, in order to understand criminal law in Canada, it is increasingly important to understand Canada’s constitutional laws.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Criminal Trial Strategies, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing.
Read or listen to the Preface and Introduction and subscribe to Patrick Ducharme’s Youtube Channel.