Understanding the legal implications of partner abuse

Physical Abuse

It is important to understand that inflicting physical harm on another person is against the law. Different types of physical abuse will fit into the definitions of criminal offences. Depending on the degree of harm inflicted on someone, physical abuse can range from the offences of simple assault to attempted murder or manslaughter, or murder. Below is a list of various criminal offences and their definitions, which will include most instances of physical abuse.

Sexual offences are also instances of physical harm and are dealt with in the Sexual Abuse section.

Assault: sometimes also called common assault. It includes:

  • applying intentional force to another person;
  • trying or threatening to apply force to another person;
  • causing another person to believe reasonably that the abuser has ability to carry out a threat of assault;
  • whilst wearing or holding a weapon openly (or something that looks like a weapon) the abuser accosts a victim.
Examples are slapping, pushing or shoving, pinching, or a threat to harm you or your children. Over medication of someone could be an assault.


Assault with a weapon or assault causing bodily harm: assault while using, carrying or threatening to use a weapon; assault that actually causes physical harm. Bodily harm is any hurt or injury that interferes with health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern. Examples are an assault when you are beaten with a baseball bat, assault when you get a black eye or broken bone, or a threat to use a weapon.


Aggravated assault: assault which wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the victim.


Unlawfully causing bodily harm: interpreted as an act of violence towards another person. Bodily harm is any hurt or injury that interferes with health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.


Criminal negligence: showing complete disregard for someone's life or safety by doing something, or not doing something when there is a legal duty to do or not do the act. Criminal negligence can be a form of culpable homicide. So, if someone dies as a result of an act of criminal negligence, the person who committed the act could be charged with murder.

An example of a legal duty that might lead to a charge of criminal negligence would be the duty to provide the necessaries of life imposed by the Criminal Code. In order to establish that the offence has been committed it is not necessary to show that the accused intended to be negligent. It is enough to show he or she was indifferent as to what happened. A court will look at the surrounding circumstances of a particular case to determine if they affect whether or not the conduct of an accused was reasonable.


Criminal negligence causing bodily harm: causing harm by criminal negligence to someone that constitutes any hurt or injury that interferes with their health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.


Criminal negligence causing death: where the criminal negligence of an offender is a contributing factor to the death of someone.


Failure to provide necessities: failing to provide the necessaries of life to a spouse, or to someone under another's charge, where that person is unable to provide themselves with the necessaries of life or cannot provide themselves with the necessaries of life because of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or another reason. The offence is committed where the failure to provide the necessaries of life results in the life of the spouse or person in the charge of another being endangered or their health to be permanently endangered. A couple who have cohabited or who have recognized each other as spouses will be treated as lawfully married unless there is contrary evidence. The fact that a spouse may be unable to support a spouse may be a lawful excuse. Necessaries of life mean those things necessary to preserve life, for example, food, shelter, heat, medical aid. Courts look at whether the conduct is a marked departure from the standards of a reasonable person in all the circumstances of the case.


Murder: causing the death of a person with the intention of doing so, or acts with the intention of hurting a person knowing that it is possible that death will occur; causes someone else to die whilst intending to kill or harm another; causes death to someone whilst trying to achieve an unlawful goal (e.g. theft), even though may not have intended to kill anyone.


Manslaughter: murder can be reduced to the lesser charge of manslaughter where it was committed after provocation in the heat of passion; murder where there was no specific intent to kill.


Legal Implications - Continued:

July 2003

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