The Canadian Bar Association – British Columbia Branch
Unfortunately, many Canadians, male and female alike, find themselves in this boat. So if you’re the victim of stalking, criminal harassment or cyberbullying, this post is for you.
I was just perusing British Columbia’s branch of the Canadian Bar Association. It’s a wonderful website! I’ve copied, from their website, the exact text they use to define STALKING, CYBERBULLYING & CRIMINAL HARASSMENT.
What is stalking?
Stalking is behaviour that may – in some cases – be criminal harassment under section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada (available at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/). Stalking is criminal harassment if a person does any of the following things, knowing that it causes you to reasonably fear for your safety or the safety of anyone you know:
repeatedly follow you, or anyone you know.
repeatedly communicate with you, or anyone you know, directly or indirectly.
repeatedly watch you, or anyone you know, or lurk around your home, workplace, or any other place you happen to be
engage in any threatening conduct directed at you or a member of your family
Even if the person doing these things has not been told or doesn’t know that you fear for your safety or the safety of anyone you know, if they should have known, then these behaviours may still be criminal harassment.
A person can be stalking even if they don’t physically hurt anyone or damage any property. The law is designed to protect psychological, emotional, and physical safety.
Stalking may start with conduct that seems more annoying than dangerous. Often, the conduct is legal and even socially acceptable, if it’s just an isolated incident. But when it’s repeated, it may scare the victim. Conduct such as following someone, or sending gifts or letters, may become intimidating if done continually and against the person’s wishes.
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is a type of harassment using new technology. Whether it is criminal harassment depends on the facts of a case. Cyberbullies use social media (such asFacebook, Twitter, and YouTube), blogs, texting, instant messaging, and other internet avenues to engage in deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour intended to harm, embarrass, or slander someone. Although their work is public, cyberbullies are often anonymous and it is often harder to identify and stop them.
Cyberbullying may also be defamation. The Criminal Code (section 300) outlaws publishing a defamatory libel – material published, without lawful justification or excuse, likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or designed to insult the person. But criminal defamation is rare. More common is civil defamation – communication about a person that tends to hurt their reputation. Script 240, called “Defamation: Libel and Slander”, has more on this.
What can you do if someone is stalking, harassing, or cyberbullying you?
First, if the harassment is attempted communication with you, tell the person to stop. Otherwise, they may not know that they are harassing you. Never reply to harassing messages – except to tell the person to stop.
Call the police to report the problem. Record the details of every incident, including time, date, place, who was involved, and what was said and done. Keep letters, notes, voicemail messages, emails, texts, instant messages, and social media and internet posts. Give them to the police.
If the harassment happens at school, report it to the school authorities, as well as to the police. If it happens at work, report it to your boss, plus the police.
Report cyberbullying or other harassing communication to your internet or cell phone company. Most companies have policies on acceptable use of their services, and can cancel the service of a customer who violates those policies. The company can also help police find a cyberbully who is using their network.
If you get a harassing phone call on a landline, dial *57 immediately when the call ends. The phone company will record the phone number that made the call, so the police can get it. If you receive harassing calls on your cell phone, call the phone company for help in tracking the calls.
You can also seek a civil restraining order in court. But to do this, you need legal advice.
What happens after you report the problem?
If a person is charged with criminal harassment, crown counsel (the prosecutor) makes the case against (or prosecutes) them. The prosecutor may proceed by indictment for serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is 10 years in jail. Or the prosecutor may proceed by summary conviction for less serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is either a fine or 6 months in jail, or both.
The first stage of any criminal proceeding is generally an application by the accused person for judicial interim release, also known as bail. If the court grants bail to a person, it will usually order them not to contact you directly or through another person, or go anywhere near your home, school, or place of work. If the person disobeys those terms, the court may revoke, or cancel, their bail. Then they may be charged with a separate offence of breaching their bail conditions. If the person is denied bail and is sent to jail until a trial or a guilty plea, the prosecutor may ask the court to order that the person have no contact with you from jail. Again, if the person charged disobeys this order, they may be charged with a separate offence.
If a court finds a person guilty, of criminal harassment, after a guilty plea or trial, it can impose many different sentences. The court will choose a sentence based on the person’s criminal record and the severity of their crime. If the person is not sent to jail, they will usually be ordered to obey certain conditions similar to the conditions imposed at the bail stage. For example, a court will normally order a person convicted of criminal harassment to have no contact with you directly or indirectly, to stay away from your home and workplace, and to not own or carry any weapons. A court may also order a convicted person to take counseling, if it might help.
I FIND THIS INFORMATION FASCINATING, DON’T YOU?
Now, we’ve got a little more information on the subject. So, what do you DO when you want to see if someone can be CHARGED WITH A CRIMINAL OFFENCE FOR STALKING, CRIMINAL HARASSMENT OR CYBERBULLYING? The below information is also provided on the Canadian Bar Association of British Columbia.
The Canadian Bar Association – British Columbia Branch
Procedure in Vancouver: other places may differ
The procedure for charging someone with a criminal offence or making a report to the police varies slightly from place to place in BC. This script describes the procedure in Vancouver. If you live elsewhere in BC, contact the Justice of the Peace at your local provincial courthouse or the local police station for the procedure there.
What is the purpose of the criminal justice system?
The main purpose of the criminal justice system is to bring to justice a person who has committed a criminal offence. It is not to compensate people financially for something wrong done to them. So you should not say or allege, that someone committed an assault, for example, if you just want him to pay you for your broken glasses. Instead, you should consider suing him civilly in small claims court.
Where do you start if you want someone to be charged with an offence?
Go to the police station, speak to an officer on duty, and file a police report or make a statement with your allegations. Make a note of the police officer’s name and number and, if possible, the police report number. An police officer will investigate your case and report to you.
If the officer thinks that the person should be charged, they will write a report to the prosecutor (also calledCrown Counsel) with the suggested charges. Follow up on your report by contacting the officer who took the complaint if you want an update on it.
If the officer thinks the person should not be charged, they will tell you so. And they won’t send a report to the prosecutor. If this happens and you disagree, you can ask to speak to the officer’s boss. You can also file a complaint with either the Police Complaint Commissioner (check script 221) or the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (check script 220). It depends on whether your complaint is against a municipal police force or the RCMP. You can also charge the person yourself, as explained below.
What is a prosecutor and what do they do?
Prosecutors are lawyers employed by the government to prosecute, or present, criminal cases in court. A prosecutor will review the police report and may charge the person with an offence. You may have to testify as a witness (tell the court what you know) if the case goes to court. If you suffered financial loss, you may be able to get compensation, so you should give this information to the police or prosecutor. If you don’t hear whether the person has been charged, you should contact the police officer who took the report.
What if the prosecutor won’t charge the person?
Talk with the prosecutor—if the police send a report to the prosecutor, who decides not to charge the person, you can call the prosecutor, who may speak with you. Listen carefully to the prosecutor because they are experts in criminal law. If you have new information, the prosecutor may send you back to the police. In that case, what happens next will depend on what the police do. If you disagree with the police decision at this point, you can follow the police complaint process described above.
Charge the person yourself—if the police won’t investigate or the prosecutor won’t charge the person and you still disagree with their decisions, you can ask a Justice of the Peace (a JP) to charge the person based on a “private information”. If the offence is in the Criminal Code, a JP has to accept the charge. Even if the JP accepts the charge, in a typical case, unless there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will likely end it (or “stay the prosecution”). That’s because a prosecutor has to meet a higher standard of proof than a JP needs to accept a charge.
If the prosecutor does not stay the charge, you still have to convince a Provincial Court judge to order the person charged to come to court. The judge can issue an arrest warrant or a summons to do this. You have to convince the judge there is evidence to prove the crime. But if you do that, the prosecutor may ask the judge to wait (adjourn or postpone the case) before issuing a warrant or a summons so the police can investigate the case. After the police investigate, if the prosecutor decides there is strong evidence of a criminal offence, the prosecutor will take over. If the prosecutor decides the case lacks merit and stays it, you can call the Crown Counsel office and speak to the prosecutor’s boss.
Summary
The first step in charging someone with a criminal offence is to file a police report. If the police decide to proceed, they will send a report to the prosecutor, who may charge the person with an offence (after reading the police report and witness statements).
If the police do not send a report to the prosecutor, you can discuss it with the police and file a complaint if you still disagree. Or you can try charging the person yourself before a Justice of the Peace.
If the prosecutor decides not to prosecute the person, you can call the prosecutor. If that doesn’t work, you can try charging the person yourself, before a justice of the peace. Lastly, you can ask to speak to the prosecutor’s boss.
So, what I’m taking from all of this is that even if the police do not pursue, for whatever reason, one can still provide all of their information to a JUDGE. Well now, I like it.
And thankfully, you can also sue your stalker(s) in CIVIL COURT via THE SUPREME COURT of your particular Province, where the crime is happening, for up to $25,000. I wonder if that’s for EACH person involved, if there is more than one stalker involved.
I shall get informed and report back in a future post.