Main Page

Welcome to The Canadian Criminal Law Notebook, a free resource of Canadian criminal law written by Peter Dostal. 1101 articles Law Evidence Search and Seizure Procedure and Practice Sentencing

The Canadian Criminal Law Notebook This site reviews a variety of topics in Canadian criminal law. It is intended to be used as a reference for those seeking to understand technical elements of the law better. It will be particularly useful to practitioners, police officers and law students who need a convenient way to look up legislation, principles, and case law. Citations include links to CanLII whenever possible. The reader is assumed to have prior knowledge of criminal law. To learn more about this project, read the About The Criminal Law Notebook page. Please feel free to contact the author, Peter Dostal, LLB, at [email protected] with any comments. You can also make requests for what you would like to see covered in more detail by posting anonymously on the feedback page, but please, no posting about the circumstance of your active cases. If you are interested in helping to keep the website up and free to everyone, consider making a donation to help cover the costs of running this website. Browse our 1101 articles General Topics The articles are divided into five core categories: Criminal law, Evidence, Search and Seizure, Procedure and Practice, and Sentencing Case Digests You can also browse by case digest topic. Other Articles List of Criminal Code Amendments | Criminal Code Table of Concordance | List of Offences by Penalty | Definitions | Criminal Code Forms | Precedents, Court Forms and Checklists | Rules of Court | Glossary | Court Composition

News October 18, 2019 The last portion of bill C-75 is now in force. It includes major changes to the detention and release provisions. September 19, 2019 A large portion of bill C-75 is now in force, including removal of preliminary inquiries for certain indictable offences. June 21, 2019 Bill C-75 given royal asset. This bill adopts the Antic decision broadening bail, reduces the amount of court order breach prosecutions, removes pre-emptory challenges in jury trials, expands penalty for summary election offences, removes preliminary inquiry on certain eligible offences, removes certain unconstitutional provisions, and other changes. Most provisions come into force 90 and 180 days later. [1] December 18, 2018 Bill C-46 on "Conveyances" affecting Criminal Code offences relating to driving, including drug impairment, has now come into force. December 14, 2018 The Supreme Court of Canada in R v Boudreault, 2018 SCC 58 (CanLII), per Martin J, finds mandatory imposition of victim fine surcharges on persons convicted of crime was found invalid as "cruel and unusual" punishment. December 13, 2018 An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act has come into force. It removes and modifies numerous provisions of the Code, including unconstitutional provisions, sexual assault provisions, and some rules of evidence. October 10, 2018 The "Discussion" tabs for each article can now be editted anonymously. Any constructive feedback on articles would be appreciated. June 21, 2018 Bills C-45 and C-46 are given royal assent relating to marijuana decriminalization and new offences relating to drug impaired driving. Most provisions will not come into force until October and December 2018. Older news... or Twitter External Links CanLII.org and OpenParliament.ca Canliiconnects.org Henry Waldock's Legal Topics for Canadian Police Altantic Police Academy News Law 10-8 Justice Institute of BC Newsletter Duhaime On Criminal Law Criminal Law Notebook on Twitter DOJ Research Reports on Criminal Justice System The Preparation, Citation and Distribution of Canadian Decisions Other links...

Disclaimer Any views or opinions expressed within this website are those of the author alone. Nothing should be construed as official statements of any governmental or non-governmental organization. There is no guarantee whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the information provided in this website. Nothing here should be taken as legal advice. See Disclaimer for details.