Section 34 of the Criminal Code of Canada

DEFENCE OF PERSON – USE OR THREAT OF FORCE

  • 34 (1) A person is not guilty of an offence if
    • (a) they believe on reasonable grounds that force is being used against them or another person or that a threat of force is being made against them or another person;
    • (b) the act that constitutes the offence is committed for the purpose of defending or protecting themselves or the other person from that use or threat of force; and
    • (c) the act committed is reasonable in the circumstances.
  • Factors(2) In determining whether the act committed is reasonable in the circumstances, the court shall consider the relevant circumstances of the person, the other parties and the act, including, but not limited to, the following factors:
    • (a) the nature of the force or threat;
    • (b) the extent to which the use of force was imminent and whether there were other means available to respond to the potential use of force;
    • (c) the person’s role in the incident;
    • (d) whether any party to the incident used or threatened to use a weapon;
    • (e) the size, age, gender and physical capabilities of the parties to the incident;
    • (f) the nature, duration and history of any relationship between the parties to the incident, including any prior use or threat of force and the nature of that force or threat;
    • (f.1) any history of interaction or communication between the parties to the incident;
    • (g) the nature and proportionality of the person’s response to the use or threat of force; and
    • (h) whether the act committed was in response to a use or threat of force that the person knew was lawful.
  • No defence(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the force is used or threatened by another person for the purpose of doing something that they are required or authorized by law to do in the administration or enforcement of the law, unless the person who commits the act that constitutes the offence believes on reasonable grounds that the other person is acting unlawfully.

Section 35 of the Criminal Code of Canada

Defence of Property

  • 35(1) A person is not guilty of an offence if
    • (a) they either believe on reasonable grounds that they are in peaceable possession of property or are acting under the authority of, or lawfully assisting, a person whom they believe on reasonable grounds is in peaceable possession of property;
    • (b) they believe on reasonable grounds that another person
      • (i) is about to enter, is entering or has entered the property without being entitled by law to do so,
      • (ii) is about to take the property, is doing so or has just done so, or
      • (iii) is about to damage or destroy the property, or make it inoperative, or is doing so;
    • (c) the act that constitutes the offence is committed for the purpose of
      • (i) preventing the other person from entering the property, or removing that person from the property, or
      • (ii) preventing the other person from taking, damaging or destroying the property or from making it inoperative, or retaking the property from that person; and
    • (d) the act committed is reasonable in the circumstances.
  • No defence(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the person who believes on reasonable grounds that they are, or who is believed on reasonable grounds to be, in peaceable possession of the property does not have a claim of right to it and the other person is entitled to its possession by law.
  • No defence(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the other person is doing something that they are required or authorized by law to do in the administration or enforcement of the law, unless the person who commits the act that constitutes the offence believes on reasonable grounds that the other person is acting unlawfully.

Section 265-268 of the Criminal Code of Canada

Definition of Assault (and Consent), and it’s various forms

  • 265(1) A person commits an assault when
    • (a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
    • (b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or
    • (c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs.
  • Application(2) This section applies to all forms of assault, including sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm and aggravated sexual assault.
  • Consent(3) For the purposes of this section, no consent is obtained where the complainant submits or does not resist by reason of
    • (a) the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
    • (b) threats or fear of the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
    • (c) fraud; or
    • (d) the exercise of authority.
  • Accused’s belief as to consent(4) Where an accused alleges that he believed that the complainant consented to the conduct that is the subject-matter of the charge, a judge, if satisfied that there is sufficient evidence and that, if believed by the jury, the evidence would constitute a defence, shall instruct the jury, when reviewing all the evidence relating to the determination of the honesty of the accused’s belief, to consider the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for that belief.

Assault

266 Every one who commits an assault is guilty of

  • (a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or
  • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.
  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 245
  • 1972, c. 13, s. 21
  • 1974-75-76, c. 93, s. 22
  • 1980-81-82-83, c. 125, s. 19

Assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm

267 Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who, in committing an assault,

  • (a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof,
  • (b) causes bodily harm to the complainant, or
  • (c) chokes, suffocates or strangles the complainant.

Aggravated assault

  • 268 (1) Every one commits an aggravated assault who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant.
  • Punishment(2) Every one who commits an aggravated assault is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
  • Excision(3) For greater certainty, in this section, “wounds” or “maims” includes to excise, infibulate or mutilate, in whole or in part, the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a person, except where
    • (a) a surgical procedure is performed, by a person duly qualified by provincial law to practise medicine, for the benefit of the physical health of the person or for the purpose of that person having normal reproductive functions or normal sexual appearance or function; or
    • (b) the person is at least eighteen years of age and there is no resulting bodily harm.
  • Consent(4) For the purposes of this section and section 265, no consent to the excision, infibulation or mutilation, in whole or in part, of the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a person is valid, except in the cases described in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b).

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