Assault: Aggravated Assault

Aggravated assault is another component of our assault regime, under the Criminal Code of Canada. It is administered by section 268 of the Criminal Code of Canada. An aggravated assault is the highest level of the assault pyramid, if we start with simple assault being the unconsented application of force or attempted application of force upon an individual, that would be the bottom of our pyramid. The next level would be assaults that cause bodily harm to the individual, bodily harm being defined as any harm that is of a non-trivial nature, so quite a low threshold. After that we see aggravated assault. Aggravated assault requires that a threshold be met, and that threshold is that the individual who was assaulted be wounded, scarred, or maimed, as defined by the Criminal Code. So we’re talking about assaults that have left the individual with permanent ramifications. This type of assault is treated more harshly and with sterner punishments than simple assault or assault causing bodily harm and the reason for this is that these punishments are intended to reflect the severity of the damage inflicted during one of these aggravated assaults.