The Crown said I committed a Domestic Assault. What is that?

The criminal justice system has changed in its approach to domestic assaults. A domestic assault is an assault that takes place between two people who are either currently or formerly dating, in a common law or married relationship, children, parents, or relatives.

The Crown Attorney’s practice memo (PM [2002] No. 4) states that in domestic violence offences, Crowns should take a position on judicial interim release that ensures, to the fullest extent possible, the protection and safety of the victim and family and a prevention of further offences. The memo recommends that Crowns give careful consideration to seeking a detention order. It places a heavy responsibility on Crown counsel to exercise his or her discretion in an informed manner by gathering the necessary information to make this decision, and provides a checklist of risk factors to be addressed. As a result of this memo and general policy, Crown attorneys handle domestic assault cases in a much more serious manner and their approach is to proceed with these cases in a much more vigorous manner. The reason for this is the notion that abused individuals will return to their alleged abuser and will be subjected to further violence. For this reason, Crown Attorneys regularly do not consent to the release on bail of those accused of domestic violence (for more information on bail hearings, click HERE).

If released on bail, oftentimes, conditions will be placed on the individual accused of domestic violence that prohibit him/her from having any contact with the alleged victim and on occasion, his/her family. This is regardless of whether the person alleged to have been assaulted wishes contact or does not want the Crown to proceed with the charges. This is why you should consult with a lawyer to discuss your case.

If charged with an assault of a domestic nature, there may be many options available to you including counseling, a domestic assault program called “PARS” or “Early Intervention Program.” There are benefits and sometimes consequences to entering these programs. A lawyer can explain these to you in great detail as you are often required to enter a plea of guilt to be eligible for the programs. My priority in domestic assault situations where the person alleged to have been assaulted wants to restore contact with the person charged with assault is to try to vary the bail conditions to allow contact with one another (for more information on bail variations, click HERE ). To do this, I often first discuss the case with the Crown Attorney. If he/she is not agreeable to changing the conditions, an application can be brought in the Superior Court to seek a judge’s determination on whether the bail conditions should be varied. I may also discuss the possibility of the Crown agreeing to withdraw the charges either outright or after some steps are taken to rectify what appears to be a problematic situation in the relationship in a manner agreeable to all parties.

The sentence imposed by a judge upon a finding of guilt will depend on a multitude of factors including the degree of harm caused by the assault.