1. Understand why the Crown drops criminal charges

When deciding whether to take a case to court, the Crown considers:

• Is there a “reasonable prospect of conviction”?
• Is it in the public interest to prosecute the case?

If the answer to either question is no, the Crown should withdraw or stay the charges.

Reasonable prospect of conviction

“Reasonable prospect of conviction” means that there is a good possibility a judge will find the accused guilty if there is a trial. It doesn't mean that the accused will definitely be convicted but there should be more than just the possibility.

When deciding if there is a reasonable prospect of conviction, the Crown will consider if:

• the accused has a good defense
• a key witness can give evidence about the crime
• a witness gave a sworn videotaped statement to the police
• the police violated the accused's rights during the investigation or arrest, for example, whether any search was valid

Public interest

If there is a reasonable prospect of conviction, the Crown must look at whether taking the case to court is in the “public interest”. This means that it's better for society that the case go to trial than if the charge is withdrawn. For example, it might not be in the public interest to prosecute if the crime is very minor, and the trial would be very complicated and take up a lot of court time.

Each case is different so the Crown must look at many factors to decide if it's in the public interest to continue a prosecution, including:

• the seriousness of the crime
• if the crime threatened public or individual safety
• the impact of the crime on the community
• the circumstances of the accused or the victim, like their age, intelligence, vulnerability, or mental health
• if the prosecution will have a negative effect on the victim's physical or mental health

New information can change the Crown's view about whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction or whether it is in the public interest to continue a prosecution. The Crown should continue to think about whether they should move forward with the prosecution as new information comes in.