"laid charges against him"

After a really violent episode Mary telephoned the police and they proceeded to lay charges against her partner. The following questions and answers give us some ideas about this topic.

What is an assault charge?

Will the police always lay assault charges?

Can you withdraw charges after they are laid?

What type of sentence will the offender get?

A charge is a criminal accusation against someone. The phrase "laying charges" comes from a legal process, which is called laying an information. In order for a criminal matter to begin, an information has to be laid by someone who believes that an offence has been committed.

Will the police always lay assault charges?

No. The police have some leeway whether to lay a charge. In cases of family violence the police should lay charges where there are reasonable grounds to believe that there has been an assault.

The police can lay charges even if you do not want them to.

If the police do not lay charges and you think that they should, you can speak to the senior officer in charge.

If the police do not lay an assault charge, you can lay one. You must go to the court office and ask to see a Justice of the Peace (JP). If you have not already talked to the police, the JP may suggest you do so. The JP must allow you to lay the charges if you want to, however, usually it will only be necessary for you to lay charges in cases of common assault. In cases of other types of assault there will usually be enough evidence for the police to lay the charge.

Can you withdraw charges after they are laid?

If the police have laid a charge, you cannot insist that they withdraw it. When the case goes to court you may be required as a witness for the Crown. If so, you will receive a subpoena. A subpoena is a court order telling you where and when to be in court.

The Crown presents the evidence against a person accused of breaking a criminal law. The lawyer who represents the Crown is called the Crown attorney.

If you do not obey the subpoena, the Crown attorney may withdraw the charges, or ask the judge to issue a warrant for your arrest, or proceed with the case. The fact that you and your spouse have worked out your problems is not by itself enough to have the Crown attorney drop the charges.

If you laid the charges (rather than the police) you can withdraw the charges by informing the court office where you laid the charges.

What type of sentence will the offender get?

A common assault can be dealt with either as a serious offence (called an indictable offence) or as a less serious offence (called a summary offence).

The sentence may be a fine, a jail term, a discharge, or probation. It depends on the seriousness of the assault. The judge may choose one or more of these penalties. For example, the judge may fine the offender and place him on probation. The offender will have a criminal record.

July 2003

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