5.1 - Crime

Crime in Society

Crime has been a part of society for as long as there have been identified crimes.  Stats Canada regularly calculates various crime statistics in Canada, including the Crime Severity Index (CSI).  The CSI measures the overall number and severity of crimes reported to police.  This index uses a value of 100 in 2006 as a baseline measure.  Visiting the Stats Canada link above, it will become clear that the incidence and severity of crimes reported to police in Canada varies greatly among provinces, major cities, and from year to year.

What is Crime?

It is one thing to view a chart of crime stats, but it is another thing to note exactly what a crime is.  Crime is an act, or omission of an act, that is prohibited and punishable by federal statute law.  Criminal law is the category of public law that prohibits and punishes acts that injure people, property, and/or society as a whole.  Criminal law has three main purposes:  protect people and property, maintain order, and to preserve standards of public decency.  In Canada, most of the criminal laws are contained in the federal statute, the Criminal Code of Canada (CCC).  The federal government is responsible for the CCC and other statutes containing criminal law, but the provinces also have criminal law responsibilities.

Provincial responsibilities with respect to criminal law are varied.  First, provinces are responsible for the following:  application of criminal laws, hiring judges, building courthouses, etc.  Provinces and municipalities may also pass quasi-criminal laws.  These are laws covering less serious offenses, and are usually punishable with fines.  Examples of quasi-criminal laws include traffic offenses, Wildlife Act offenses, etc.  Generally speaking, the role that provinces play in criminal law in Canada is to enforce and apply the laws.

Elements of a Crime

Understanding the definition of crime is one step towards proving that an accused person has committed a crime, but it is not enough.  In order for the accused to have committed a crime, it must be proven that he or she demonstrated the two key elements of a crime.  These two key elements are:  actus reus, and mens rea.

First, actus reus is the physical part of the crime (the ‘guilty act’); and includes a voluntary action, omission, or state of being that is prohibited by the CCC.  First, it must be a voluntary action, and not a forced action.  Second, it may include the omission of an act, such as not feeding a child to the point where their health is at risk.  Finally, actus reus may include a state of being.  An example of a state of being is simply being  in possession of stolen property.  Proving actus reus involves proving that the accused committed the act.

The second key element of a crime is mens rea.  Mens rea is the mental part of the crime (the ‘guilty mind’); and includes the deliberate intention to commit a prohibited act.  Mens rea may be proven by proving intent, knowledge, recklessness, or willful blindness.

The first way that mens rea may be proved is by proving intent.  Intent refers to the state of mind in which a person desires to carry out a wrongful act, knows what the results will be, and is reckless regarding the consequences.  In criminal law, there are two types of intent.  General intent is the desire to commit a wrongful act with no ulterior motive or purpose.  For example, Suzie punches Sally for no reason other than she’s angry.  On the other hand, specific intent is when a person commits one wrong as a step towards committing another wrong act.  An example here is if Suzie punches Sally to distract her, and then Suzie steals her wallet.  General intent crimes are easier to prove than specific intent crimes, so Crown will often pursue general intent charges.  For example, a manslaughter (unplanned or unintentional death) charge is a general intent crime and easier to prove; whereas a murder (planned and deliberate death) charge is a specific intent crime, and is more difficult to prove.  Related to, but not the same as, intent is motive.  Motive refers to the reason why someone committed a criminal act.  Although not a part of intent, motive is useful as a tool to understand the big picture of the events of the crime.

The second way that mens rea may be proven is by proving knowledge.  Knowledge is the awareness of certain facts.  For example, a man in possession of money he knew to be counterfeit, has knowledge that the money is counterfeit, and thus has mens rea for the crime of possession of counterfeit currency.

Third, mens rea may be established by proving that the actions of the accused were reckless.  Recklessness is when someone consciously takes an unjustifiable risk that a reasonable person would not take.  For example, consider that a person was observed driving 100 km/hr in a school zone, and running two red lights.  This recklessness may be enough to prove mens rea for the charge of dangerous driving.

The fourth and final way to establish mens rea is by proving willful blindness.  Willful blindness is a heightened form of recklessness, and is defined as the deliberate closing of one’s mind to the possible consequences of one’s actions.  The person in the above example of  dangerous driving could be considered to have made themselves willfully blind to the potential consequences (harm) that these driving actions may potentially cause.

Exceptions to Mens Rea Requirement

There are a couple of exceptions to the requirement of mens rea to prove that a crime has been committed.  The first exception is with strict liability offences.  These offences don’t require mens rea, but may offer the defence of due diligence.  For example, consider that a company has been charged with leaking chemicals into a nearby stream.  Mens rea isn’t necessary to prove guilt; but the company could argue that they did everything in their power to prevent such an incident (due diligence), and should therefore be found not-guilty.  The other exception to the mens rea requirement is with absolute liability offences.  These are offences that also don’t require mens rea, but there is also no defence.  An example of this type of offense is driving without a license - a person either has or doesn’t have a license to drive.  There is no need to prove mens rea.

Involvement in a Crime

Anyone that is involved, either directly or indirectly, in committing a crime may be guilty of a criminal offence.  A perpetrator is the person who actually commits the offence and, if there is more than one person committing the offense, then they are all called co-perpetrators.  A person could be guilty of a criminal offence even if they were not present at the time.  The criminal offence called aiding is when a person helps someone else commit a crime.  For example, Mo gives Homer the key to the donut shop so Homer can break in and steal all the donuts.  Homer is guilty of breaking and entering and theft, and Mo is guilty of the same because he was aiding Homer (even though Mo wasn’t present when the donuts were stolen).  Another type of indirect criminal involvement is abetting.  Abetting means to encourage a perpetrator to commit a crime.  For example, Teresa and Maddy are about to fight, and Jenn starts yelling at Teresa to go ahead and punch out Maddy.  If Teresa starts hitting Maddy, she would be guilty of assault; and Jenn would also be guilty of assault because she was abetting (encouraging) Teresa.

People may be guilty of a criminal offence even after someone else has already committed the offence.  That is, the crime of accessory after the fact is when someone knowingly receives, comforts, or assists a perpetrator in escaping from the police.  So, an example here is if Sultan robs a candy store, and then Akbal agrees to hide him in his house.  Sultan is guilty of the robbery, and Akbal is guilty of being an accessory after the fact.  Finally, if a group of people set out to commit a crime (say, rob a fruit stand), and one member of the group commits another crime (say, assaulting a fruit picker), each member of the group is guilty of the same assault crime.  This is called party to a common intention, and is defined as the shared responsibility among criminals for any additional offences that are committed in the course of the crime they originally intended to commit.  Thus, it can be seen that everyone directly or indirectly connected to a crime may be found guilty.

Incomplete Crimes

So far the discussion in this section has focused on actions that result in completed crimes.  However, there are criminal charges related to incomplete crimes.  One such charge is an attempted crime.  An attempt is when one has the intention to commit a crime, but the crime is not completed.  Another charge is conspiracy; and this is where two or more people make an agreement/plan to commit an illegal act, even if the act isn’t carried out.

Summary

Crime has always been part of society.  Understanding what crime is, what the key elements of crime are, and who the players are in criminal actions, are the first steps in understanding how crimes are dealt with in Canada.