Glossary
In Criminal Law
Informed consent is a special type of permission that you can give the police to search you, your home or business. For you to give permission with informed consent, you must understand:
- what the police are asking you to do
- what might happen if you agree to let them search, and
- that you don’t have to give them permission.
In Criminal Law
An intermittent sentence is a sentence where you serve part of your time in jail, for example, on weekends, and part of your time in the community. While in the community, you must follow the terms of a probation order. An intermittent sentence is only available if the total length of your sentence is 90 days or less.
In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law
An intimate image or video is one that was taken in circumstances that give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy, and shows the person:
- naked,
- exposing their genital region, buttocks, or breasts, or
- engaged in explicit sexual activity.
It is a criminal offence to publish, distribute, share, or sell intimate images of someone without their consent. In order to be found guilty of this offence, the person in the image must continue to have a reasonable expectation of privacy at the time you commit the offence.
In Criminal Law
A joint position means that you and the Crown both agree on the terms of the sentence to recommend to the judge at a sentencing hearing. A judge will usually accept a joint position, unless the agreement is clearly unreasonable.
In Criminal Law, Types of Offences, Bail, Probation, and Court Attendance, Assault, Driving, Drugs, Firearms, Gender-based violence, Harassment, Mischief, Theft, Threats, Victims and witnesses
A Justice of the Peace (JP) is similar to a judge but a JP is only allowed to make decisions on certain types of court matters, like bail or private prosecutions.
In Criminal Law
It is an indictable offence to kidnap. Kidnapping is taking someone against their will and holding them captive with the intention of:
- confining or imprisoning them against their will,
- unlawfully transporting them out of Canada against their will
- holding them for ransom or demanding services against their will
In Criminal Law
The ladder principle is used in bail court to help decide how much supervision you should have if you’re released. The bottom of the ladder is the least amount of supervision and the top of the ladder is the most. Each step up the ladder restricts your freedom more. For example, an undertaking without conditions is at the bottom of the ladder. A house arrest is at the top of the ladder.
A person with no criminal record and no criminal charges is usually assumed to be at the bottom of the ladder. But, if the allegations against the person are serious the court may move them up the ladder to ease their concerns about releasing him or her.
The more offences the person has on their record and the more serious the offences are, the higher the person moves up the ladder.
In Criminal Law
A limitation period is the time limit for when you can begin a court proceeding for a claim. If the time limit has passed, you will not be able to start a new claim.
In Criminal Law
Local resolution is a way for you to resolve minor complaints involving the police. With local resolution, you work directly with the police to deal with your complaint. Complaints dealt with through local resolution are not considered official complaints.
In Criminal Law
When a correctional facility is on lockdown, it means that prisoners must stay in their cells. Lockdowns can happen during an emergency, or as a result of staff shortages or riots.