Assault causing bodily harm

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Assault causing bodily harm is a statutory offence of assault in Canada with aggravating factors. It is committed by anyone who, in committing an assault, causes bodily harm to the complainant. [1] It is the Canadian equivalent to the statutory offence in England and Wales of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. In Canada, a consensual fight is not considered an assault, but one cannot consent to an assault causing bodily harm.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and the Solomon Islands. It has been abolished in the Republic of Ireland and in South Australia, but replaced with a similar offence.

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Bodily harm

Bodily harm is defined as any hurt or injury to a person that interferes with the health or comfort of the person and that is more than merely transient or trifling in nature. [2] This definition is similar (if it is not word for word) to the common law definition of actual bodily harm stated in R v. Donovan [3] and repeated in R v. Chan-Fook, [4] where the reference to transient or trifling injuries is taken as applying to actual bodily harm rather than bodily harm.

Mode of trial and sentence

Assault causing bodily harm is a hybrid offence or dual offence. It is punishable, on conviction on indictment, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or, on summary conviction, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months. [1] This is a case where the sentence for the offence is specifically defined as greater than the default punishment for summary matters, which is normally up to 6 months. [5]

A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as indictment. In the United States, an alternative misdemeanor/felony offense lists both county jail and state prison as possible punishment. Similarly, a wobblette is a crime that can be charged either as a misdemeanor or an infraction.

Comparison to aggravated battery

In many US jurisdictions, aggravated battery is an equivalent to assault causing or occasioning bodily harm. Unlike under Canadian criminal law, however, aggravated battery is always indictable (locally known as a felony).

The term felony, in some common law countries, is defined as a serious crime. The word originates from English common law, where felonies were originally crimes involving confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods. Other crimes were called misdemeanors. Many common law countries have now abolished the felony/misdemeanor distinction and replaced it with other distinctions, such as between indictable offences and summary offences. A felony is generally considered a crime of high seriousness, but a misdemeanor is not.

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References

  1. 1 2 Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 267(b) Archived October 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine ..
  2. ↑ Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 2 "bodily harm".
  3. ↑ R v Donovan, [1934] 2 KB 498 at p 509 (also 25 Cr. App. Rep.1 CCA)
  4. ↑ R v Chan-Fook, [1994] 2 All ER 552, at 557D.
  5. ↑ Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 787 Archived October 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine ..



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