Anyone, including private citizens, who, on reasonable grounds, believe that a person has committed an indictable offence, may lay an information in writing and under oath before a Justice and the Justice shall receive the Information. The vast majority of Informations are laid, however, by police officers using section 507 of the Code. The Justice receives an information from a peace officer or other agent of the Attorney General, and, where the Justice considers that a case for doing so is made out, the Justice issues a summons or a warrant for the arrest of the accused to compel the accused to attend before court. This hearing under subsection 507(1) is ex parte and in camera. Transcripts of the proceedings before the Justice can be provided to an accused after proceedings begin.
Anyone, however, is entitled to bring the matter before a Justice seeking to lay a criminal charge. Citizens and police officers alike, in order to bring a charge before a Justice are required to believe on reasonable grounds that a person has committed an indictable offence. They seek judicial permission to lay an information in writing and under oath before a Justice, and the Justice is required to receive the information, where it is alleged:
1. that the person has committed, anywhere, an indictable offence that may be tried in the province in which the Justice resides, and that the person they accuse is or is believed to be, or resides or is believed to reside, within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice;
2. that the person, wherever he may be, has committed an indictable offence within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice;
3. that the person has, anywhere, unlawfully received property that was unlawfully obtained within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice; or
4. that the person has in his possession stolen property within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice.
If a Justice refuses to issue a summons based on the evidence presented, the informant is entitled to attend before that Justice again or another Justice with additional evidence to seek an order to proceed with the charge(s). The Justice may hear from other witnesses either at the request of the person bringing the information to the Justice or at the request of the Justice. The evidence is heard ex parte, that is, in the absence of and without notice to the person alleged to have committed the crime.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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