PEMBROKE CRIMINAL LAWYERS

Operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs is illegal as is operating a vehicle with amounts of alcohol or drugs in your blood that are over the legal limits. The penalties for these sorts of offences are severe and include fines, a prohibition on driving and driver’s licence suspension, and possibly jail. (If it’s not your first offence, then definitely jail if convicted.)

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The criminal offence of assault is the act of applying force intentionally, directly or indirectly, to another person without that person’s consent. It is also assault if you accost or impede another person, or beg, while openly carrying a weapon or an imitation weapon.

“Uttering Threats” is the offence committed when someone knowingly utters, conveys or causes any person to receive a threat: to cause death or bodily harm; to burn destroy or damage property; or, to kill poison or injure an animal belonging to any person.

There are many types of assault including:

• Simple Assault
• Aggravated Assault
• Assault with a Weapon
• Assault Causing Bodily Harm
• Sexual Assault
• Sexual Assault with a Weapon/Threats/Bodily Harm
• Aggravated Sexual Assault
• Assaulting a Police Officer

The penalties will be dependent on the type and severity of the assault.

Domestic assault is how an assault against an intimate partner or family member is often referred to, although it is not an actual term found in the Criminal Code. It is considered to be a particularly serious type of assault because of the “breach of trust” that occurs when there is violence in such close and dependant relationships. The penalties vary depending upon the seriousness of the assault, will often include weapons prohibitions and at the high end can include jail.

Sex assault is an assault characterized by sexual actions that occur without the victim’s consent, for example, unwanted sexual touching, kissing, groping or intercourse. The penalties are very severe and include registering in and reporting to national and provincial sex offender registries.

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Internet crime, also known as cybercrime, is crime that occurs through the use of the internet and social media. Some examples of internet crime include child luring, impersonation, identity theft, cyber-bullying, child pornography and revenge porn. As the types of crimes that can occur online can vary widely, so do the penalties.

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Child sex assault is a sexual assault on a person under the age of 16 (see “Sex assault” above). Other related sexual offences involving children include, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, bestiality in presence of or by a child, and luring a child. The penalties are very severe and include mandatory jail sentences and registering in and reporting to national and provincial sex offender registries.

For some offences some people who get arrested will not be released from the station after being processed. They will instead be held in custody for a bail hearing. The bail hearing will determine if this person can be permitted to be at liberty or should remain in jail during the time the case is being processed by the criminal justice system. If you are not successful at your bail hearing you will have to stay in jail—possibly for months—while your case is working its way through the court process, rather than being able to deal with your case “from the outside.” You only get one shot at a bail hearing.

In the Criminal Code, this offence is actually called “Dangerous Operation” and it results when someone operates a vehicle in a manner that is dangerous to the public. This definition is admittedly very broad, but the charge is meant to apply to cases of really (dangerously) bad driving and it is a serious matter to be charged with this offence. The penalties are severe and can include a prohibition on driving and even jail.

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Driving while prohibited is the criminal offence of driving while under a court order not to drive because you were convicted of a previous criminal offence that carries a driving prohibition as one of its penalties, for example a drinking and driving offence. The penalties for this offence usually include jail and additional periods of prohibition on driving.

Drug charges would involve the supplying, importing, exporting, growing, manufacturing, trafficking or possessing of those substances listed in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). The CDSA lists both hard and soft drugs, including heroin, cocaine, “magic mushrooms,” marijuana (in quantities above a certain amount) as well as other substances including precursors to listed drugs. Penalties vary depending on the type and amount of drugs as well as other surrounding circumstances. At the high end, the penalties include lengthy jail sentences. A drug charge on your criminal record will bar you from entry into the U.S.

In criminal law, a “breach” is a violation of a condition in a probation order or in a pre-sentence release (such as bail or a Promise to Appear with an undertaking). The breach itself is an additional criminal offence and generally results in serious penalties, often including jail.

Weapons offences include using firearms to harm others, possessing illegal firearms and unsafe handling of legally owned firearms. Some objects other than firearms are may in some circumstances be considered weapons, including an object that may have a perfectly legal use, such as a kitchen knife. Some objects are classified as prohibited weapons, as for example brass knuckles or flick knives. Convictions for weapons charges result in severe penalties (although recent amendments to the law have reduced the severity somewhat).

Break and enter is the crime of breaking and entering into a place with an intent to commit an indictable offence or actually committing an indictable offence in the place. It is a serious offence with serious consequences. If the break and enter is committed in relation to a dwelling-house, the person will be guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life. Other property offences include arson, burglary, vandalism, theft of personal property, and motor vehicle theft. The penalties for these other offences will vary according to the type, severity and circumstances of the offence.

In Canada, criminal offences committed by young people between the ages of 12 and 18, are dealt with under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). While the offences with which young people in this age group can be charged are the same as for adults, the processes of the criminal justice system and the potential consequences, are different for young people.