Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Marginal note:Adjournment

• 571 (1) A judge or provincial court judge acting under this Part may from time to time adjourn a trial until it is finally terminated.

• Marginal note:Considerations

  (2) In deciding whether to adjourn the trial, the judge or provincial court judge shall consider the interests of justice, including the interests of any victim of the offence in question if information related to the victim’s interests is readily available.

Marginal note:Application of Parts XVI, XVIII, XX and XXIII

572 The provisions of Part XVI, the provisions of Part XVIII relating to transmission of the record by a provincial court judge where he holds a preliminary inquiry, and the provisions of Parts XX and XXIII, in so far as they are not inconsistent with this Part, apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to proceedings under this Part.

PART XIX.1Nunavut Court of Justice

Marginal note:Nunavut Court of Justice

• 573 (1) The powers to be exercised and the duties and functions to be performed under this Act by a court of criminal jurisdiction, a summary conviction court, a judge, a provincial court judge, a justice or a justice of the peace may be exercised or performed by a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice.

• Marginal note:Status when exercising power

  (2) A power exercised or a duty or function performed by a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice under subsection (1) is exercised or performed by that judge as a judge of a superior court.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (3) Subsection (2) does not authorize a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice who is presiding at a preliminary inquiry to grant a remedy under section 24 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Marginal note:Application for review — Nunavut

• 573.1 (1) An application for review may be made by the Attorney General or the accused, or by any person directly affected by the decision or order, to a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut in respect of a decision or order of a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice

  • (a) relating to a warrant or summons;

  • (b) relating to the conduct of a preliminary inquiry, including an order under subsection 548(1);

  • (c) relating to a subpoena;

  • (d) relating to the publication or broadcasting of information or access to the court room for all or part of the proceedings;

  • (e) to refuse to quash an information or indictment; or

  • (f) relating to the detention, disposal or forfeiture of any thing seized under a warrant or order.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) A decision or order may not be reviewed under this section if

  • (a) the decision or order is of a kind that could only be made in a province or a territory other than Nunavut by a superior court of criminal jurisdiction or a judge as defined in section 552; or

  • (b) another statutory right of review is available.

• Marginal note:Grounds of review

  (3) The judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut may grant relief under subsection (4) only if the judge is satisfied that

  • (a) in the case of any decision or order mentioned in subsection (1),

    • (i) the judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice failed to observe a principle of natural justice or failed or refused to exercise the judge’s jurisdiction, or

    • (ii) the decision or order was made as a result of an irrelevant consideration or for an improper purpose;

  • (b) in the case of a decision or order mentioned in paragraph (1)(a), that

    • (i) the judge failed to comply with a statutory requirement for the making of the decision or order,

    • (ii) the decision or order was made in the absence of any evidence that a statutory requirement for the making of the decision or order was met,

    • (iii) the decision or order was made as a result of reckless disregard for the truth, fraud, intentional misrepresentation of material facts or intentional omission to state material facts,

    • (iv) the warrant is so vague or lacking in particularity that it authorizes an unreasonable search, or

    • (v) the warrant lacks a material term or condition that is required by law;

  • (c) in the case of a decision or order mentioned in paragraph (1)(b), that the judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice

    • (i) failed to follow a mandatory provision of this Act relating to the conduct of a preliminary inquiry,

    • (ii) ordered the accused to stand trial when there was no evidence adduced on which a properly instructed jury acting reasonably could convict, or

    • (iii) discharged the accused when there was some evidence adduced on which a properly instructed jury acting reasonably could convict;

  • (d) in the case of a decision or order mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) or (d), that the judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice erred in law;

  • (e) in the case of a decision or order mentioned in paragraph (1)(e), that

    • (i) the information or indictment failed to give the accused notice of the charge,

    • (ii) the judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice did not have jurisdiction to try the offence, or

    • (iii) the provision creating the offence alleged to have been committed by the accused is unconstitutional; or

  • (f) in the case of a decision or order mentioned in paragraph (1)(f), that

    • (i) the judge failed to comply with a statutory requirement for the making of the decision or order,

    • (ii) the decision or order was made in the absence of any evidence that a statutory requirement for the making of the decision or order was met, or

    • (iii) the decision or order was made as a result of reckless disregard for the truth, fraud, intentional misrepresentation of material facts or intentional omission to state material facts.

• Marginal note:Powers of judge

  (4) On the hearing of the application for review, the judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut may do one or more of the following:

  • (a) order a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice to do any act or thing that the judge or any other judge of that court failed or refused to do or has delayed in doing;

  • (b) prohibit or restrain a decision, order or proceeding of a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice;

  • (c) declare invalid or unlawful, quash or set aside, in whole or in part, a decision, order or proceeding of a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice;

  • (d) refer back for determination in accordance with any directions that the judge considers to be appropriate, a decision, order or proceeding of a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice;

  • (e) grant any remedy under subsection 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

  • (f) refuse to grant any relief if the judge is of the opinion that no substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice has occurred or that the subject-matter of the application should be determined at trial or on appeal; and

  • (g) dismiss the application.

• Marginal note:Interim orders

  (5) If an application for review is made, a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut may make any interim order that the judge considers appropriate pending the final disposition of the application for review.

• Marginal note:Rules

  (6) A person who proposes to make an application for review shall do so in the manner and within the period that may be directed by rules of court, except that a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut may at any time extend any period specified in the rules.

• Marginal note:Appeal

  (7) An appeal lies to the Court of Appeal of Nunavut against a decision or order made under subsection (4). The provisions of Part XXI apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to the appeal.

Marginal note:Habeas corpus

• 573.2 (1) Habeas corpus proceedings may be brought before a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut in respect of an order made or warrant issued by a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice, except where

  • (a) the order or warrant is of a kind that could only be made or issued in a province or a territory other than Nunavut by a superior court of criminal jurisdiction or a judge as defined in section 552; or

  • (b) another statutory right of review or appeal is available.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Despite subsection (1), habeas corpus proceedings may be brought before a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut with respect to an order or warrant of a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice if the proceedings are brought to challenge the constitutionality of a person’s detention or confinement.

• Marginal note:Provisions apply

  (3) Subsections 784(2) to (6) apply in respect of any proceedings brought under subsection (1) or (2).

PART XXProcedure in Jury Trials and General Provisions

Preferring Indictment

Marginal note:Prosecutor may prefer indictment

• 574 (1) Subject to subsection (3), the prosecutor may, whether the charges were included in one information or not, prefer an indictment against any person who has been ordered to stand trial in respect of

  • (a) any charge on which that person was ordered to stand trial; or

  • (b) any charge founded on the facts disclosed by the evidence taken on the preliminary inquiry, in addition to or in substitution for any charge on which that person was ordered to stand trial.

• Marginal note:Preferring indictment when no preliminary inquiry

  (1.1) If a person has not requested a preliminary inquiry under subsection 536(4) or 536.1(3) into the charge or was not entitled to make such a request, the prosecutor may, subject to subsection (3), prefer an indictment against a person in respect of a charge set out in an information or informations, or any included charge, at any time after the person has made an election, re-election or deemed election on the information or informations.

• Marginal note:Preferring single indictment

  (1.2) If indictments may be preferred under both subsections (1) and (1.1), the prosecutor may prefer a single indictment in respect of one or more charges referred to in subsection (1) combined with one or more charges or included charges referred to in subsection (1.1).

• Marginal note:Consent to inclusion of other charges

  (2) An indictment preferred under any of subsections (1) to (1.2) may, if the accused consents, include a charge that is not referred to in those subsections, and the offence charged may be dealt with, tried and determined and punished in all respects as if it were an offence in respect of which the accused had been ordered to stand trial. However, if the offence was committed wholly in a province other than that in which the accused is before the court, subsection 478(3) applies.

• Marginal note:Private prosecutor requires consent

  (3) In a prosecution conducted by a prosecutor other than the Attorney General and in which the Attorney General does not intervene, an indictment may not be preferred under any of subsections (1) to (1.2) before a court without the written order of a judge of that court.

575 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 113]

Marginal note:Indictment

• 576 (1) Except as provided in this Act, no indictment shall be preferred.

• Marginal note:Criminal information and bill of indictment

  (2) No criminal information shall be laid or granted and no bill of indictment shall be preferred before a grand jury.

• Marginal note:Coroner’s inquisition

  (3) No person shall be tried on a coroner’s inquisition.

Marginal note:Direct indictments

577 Despite section 574, an indictment may be preferred even if the accused has not been given the opportunity to request a preliminary inquiry, a preliminary inquiry has been commenced but not concluded or a preliminary inquiry has been held and the accused has been discharged, if

• (a) in the case of a prosecution conducted by the Attorney General or one in which the Attorney General intervenes, the personal consent in writing of the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General is filed in court; or

• (b) in any other case, a judge of the court so orders.

Marginal note:Summons or warrant

• 578 (1) Where notice of the recommencement of proceedings has been given pursuant to subsection 579(2) or an indictment has been filed with the court before which the proceedings are to commence or recommence, the court, if it considers it necessary, may issue

  • (a) a summons addressed to, or

  • (b) a warrant for the arrest of,

  the accused or defendant, as the case may be, to compel him to attend before the court to answer the charge described in the indictment.

• Marginal note:Part XVI to apply

  (2) The provisions of Part XVI apply with such modifications as the circumstances require where a summons or warrant is issued under subsection (1).

Marginal note:Attorney General may direct stay

• 579 (1) The Attorney General or counsel instructed by the Attorney General for that purpose may, at any time after any proceedings in relation to an accused or a defendant are commenced and before judgment, direct the clerk or other proper officer of the court to make an entry on the record that the proceedings are stayed by the Attorney General’s or counsel’s direction, as the case may be, and the entry shall then be made, at which time the proceedings shall be stayed accordingly and any undertaking or release order relating to the proceedings is vacated.

• Marginal note:Recommencement of proceedings

  (2) Proceedings stayed in accordance with subsection (1) may be recommenced, without laying a new information or preferring a new indictment, as the case may be, by the Attorney General or counsel instructed by him for that purpose giving notice of the recommencement to the clerk of the court in which the stay of the proceedings was entered, but where no such notice is given within one year after the entry of the stay of proceedings, or before the expiration of the time within which the proceedings could have been commenced, whichever is the earlier, the proceedings shall be deemed never to have been commenced.