Jurisdiction vs. Venue

Patrick Ducharme

There is a distinction to be made between jurisdiction and venue. Venue refers to the place of the trial. Normally the venue or place of the trial is in the county or district where the offence is committed. Consequently, jurisdiction resides in the appropriate court in that location, the site of the alleged crime. Venue, however, can be changed by an order of the court upon application of the accused. Also, there are some circumstances where more than one jurisdiction will have concurrent jurisdiction to try an offence. Venue is procedural, not jurisdictional in nature.

Canadian Criminal Procedure by Patrick J Ducharme

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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