Indictable Offences
Things get more complicated for indictable offences. However, Indictable Offences can themselves be divided into three types:
- Relatively minor indictable offences must be tried in Provincial Court, Criminal Division. These are called absolute jurisdiction offences because the Provincial Court has absolute authority over them. Offences such as theft or fraud, unless under $5000, fall into this category. Basically, the process isn't very different from that used in summary conviction offences.
- Very severe offences, such as treason, murder, and bribing a judge, have to be tried in a higher court - in Albert, in the Court of Queen's Bench - where a judge and jury will be used to decide the case. The Provincial Court has no authority whatsoever over these offences.
- All other indictable offences give the accused a choice of where and how the trial will be conducted. The accused can choose one of three routes:
- trial by judge in the Provincial Court, Criminal Division,
- trial by judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, or
- trial by judge and jury in the Court of Queen's Bench.
Normally the first appearance of anyone who has been released after arrest is to set a trial date and to decide on the type of trial. After that comes the preliminary hearing. Here, the Crown prosecutor has to make only a prima facie case, which means only enough evidence to allow a provincial court judge to decide if there is enough evidence against the accused to proceed to trial in a higher court. If there is not, the case will not go any further, and a great deal of time and money will be saved.
- Disclosure: the process whereby the Crown presents its case, and the evidence on which it is based, to the defence prior to the trial.
- Plea negotiation (or plea bargaining): an informal pre-trial process that usually results in the accused pleading to a lesser offence in return for a lighter sentence.