Imagine you are driving to a dinner party with your wife. You are running late. You are both irritated with the other. You both believe the other is the cause for being late. You are bickering on the drive over. Your partner gets frustrated and picks up their cellphone and says s/he is going to call the host and cancel. You grab the cellphone to prevent her from doing so. She yells at you to give it back and starts punching you in the arm. You put your hand out to stop her from hitting you because you are driving. In anger you say that she'd better stop hitting you or she'll regret it. She gets even more upset and demands you pull over and let her out. You are concerned for her safety of dropping her on the side of the road at night and decided to find a parking lot to pull into some distance down the road to try and talk and calm things down.
LA VIOLENCE CONJUGALE DURANT L'ÈRE DU COVID-19
La majorité des gens sont pris à rester à la maison. Toutes activités sont annulées. Ceux-ci sont quelqu'une des raisons pour laquelle le taux d'accusations criminelles en Ontario a diminué de plus de 60%. Cependant, avec les gens constamment chez eux, le taux d'accusation de violence conjugale a monté.
CORONA VIRUS ERA IN SPOUSAL ASSAULT
The present lock down in Ontario, people staying home, and the cancellation of many activities is the primary reason that criminal charges in Ontario are down by over 60% in many jurisdictions. With people constantly in their homes there's one type of criminal offence which has spiked upwards in activity in this recent period, Spousal assaults.
La défense du consentement implicite dans le contexte d'une relation conjugale
L'infraction de voies de fait est définie de manière large et peut englober toutes sortes de contacts ayant lieu dans une relation conjugale. Ceci inclut toute situation dans laquelle une personne, sans le consentement de l'autre personne, applique intentionnellement la force à cette personne, directement ou indirectement. Ceci inclut également certaines situations dans lesquelles aucune force réelle n'est appliquée.
The Defence of Implied Consent to Domestic Assault
The offence of assault is widely defined and can capture all kinds of contact that occur in a domestic relationship. It includes any circumstance where a person, without the consent of the other person, applies force intentionally to that person, directly or indirectly. It also includes certain situations where no actual force is applied.
The Offence of Uttering Threats
If the police are called in the middle of a domestic dispute you may end up getting charged with the offence of uttering threats. Section. 261.4 of the Criminal Code makes it a crime to knowingly utter, convey or cause any person to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm. In order to be convicted the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt both that there was an utterance or conveyance of a threat and that you intended to threaten your spouse.
What is Criminal Harassment?
In Canada, there is no offence called "stalking." Instead, it is known as criminal harassment. Charges most frequently arise in cases where there has been a bad break up and one spouse continues to attempt to communicate with the other. Section Subsections 264 (1) and (2) of the Criminal Code state:
What is Forcible Confinement?
The offence of forcible confinement can sometimes arise in the context of domestic disputes. The principles relating to the offence of unlawful confinement can be summarized as follows:
What is Disclosure?
You have been charged with a domestic assault and your lawyer says "Let's make an appointment to review the disclosure". You are wondering what you are going to be reviewing. Disclosure is all the relevant evidence, on your case, that the Crown has in their possession. It will include a summary of the Crown's version of the incident, all the police notes and reports, witness statements, any video or audio evidence, expert reports, business records and any photos. The Crown must provide to your lawyer all evidence that will be used to prosecute you on the charges you are facing.
My spouse doesn't want to press charges for domestic assault
My spouse doesn't want to press charges so will they be dropped? When it comes to domestic violence related charges (assault, assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, criminal harassment, uttering threats, mischief, unlawfully being in a dwelling house) this is one of the most frequent questions we get. Most people expect that the answer will be a resounding yes. Unfortunately, it's not quite as clear as that. First, your spouse does not have the ultimate say in the matter; the Crown Attorney does. Second, the Attorney General treats domestic offences very seriously and a decision to drop charges will not be made lightly. That said, your spouse's wishes may still have some impact on how the proceedings unfold.
