Often they are also termed “spousal assaults”. Indeed, specially trained Crown Attorneys are often assigned to “domestic assault” cases. The purpose of this article is to summarize some of the issues surrounding non-domestic assaults and threats, and includes Assault, Assault with Weapon, Assault Causing Bodily Harm, Aggravated Assault, Assault Police Officers and Uttering Threats. If you are charged with Domestic Assault or with Sexual Assault, please refer to those articles as again, they are very specific types of assault.
What follows is a brief summary of the law. While it is not, and should not be relied upon as legal advice, it may assist you with some of the questions you might have. As always, consult a criminal lawyer should you need criminal advice.
All Assault and Threats offences are listed in the Criminal Code of Canada:
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-46/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-46.html. For ease of reference, I will discuss some of them below.
268 Every one commits an aggravated assault who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant.
To find someone guilty of Aggravated Assault, the Crown must prove that: (a) there was an intentional application of force, and (b) the force applied wounded the victim. To “wound” means to maim, disfigure or endanger life. This is a much more serious offence than simple “assault” and carries with it, much more significant penalties.
There are numerous ways to defend against all assault related charges and I have successfully defended people against them numerous times – please refer to my Recent Successes page. The consequences to receiving a conviction for any assault charge are significant and you should consult with a criminal lawyer to discuss these and other issues.
Again, the foregoing is only a summary. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. For a free consultation to discuss your case, please call me at
(416) 658-5855.
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