Adult criminal court statistics, 2013/2014
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Released: 2015-09-28
More than 360,000 cases were completed in Canadian adult criminal courts in 2013/2014, down 7% from the previous year. This was the lowest number of completed cases in adult criminal court in a decade.
The number of completed cases declined in most provinces and territories in 2013/2014, with Quebec (-15%), British Columbia (-9%) and Prince Edward Island (-8%) recording the largest annual decreases. Yukon (+6%) reported the largest increase in 2013/2014, while the number of completed cases in Manitoba and Alberta was relatively stable.
Over three-quarters (76%) of all cases completed in adult criminal court in 2013/2014 involved non-violent offences, including property offences (23%), administration of justice offences (23%), Criminal Code traffic offences (13%), other non-violent Criminal Code offences (4%) and other federal statute offences (13%). Violent offences accounted for the remaining completed cases (24%).
The number of cases completed fell for almost all types of offences in 2013/2014. Violent crime cases declined 7% overall, with the largest decreases occurring in cases involving robbery (-15%), uttering threats (-10%) and other violent offences (-10%). In contrast, violent crime cases involving attempted murder (+28%) and homicide (+6%) increased, while criminal harassment cases (+1%) were relatively stable.
Property crime cases were down 7% in 2013/2014. Cases involving breaking and entering (-12%), other property offences (-11%) and theft (-8%) recorded the most significant decreases.
Administration of justice offences, such as failure to appear in court and breach of probation, represented 23% of cases completed in adult criminal court. This offence category was down 4% in 2013/2014 compared with the previous year.
Among completed cases, the most common offences were impaired driving (11%), theft (10%), failure to comply with a court order (10%) and common assault (9%).
Men accounted for the majority (80%) of accused people appearing in adult criminal court in 2013/2014, while women (20%) represented a much smaller proportion. Men represented a significantly higher proportion of accused people in violent crime cases, such as sexual assault (99%), other sexual offences (97%) and robbery (89%). Accused women were most frequently before the courts for non-violent crime such as theft (35%) and fraud (33%).
About two-thirds (63%) of cases completed in adult criminal court in 2013/2014 resulted in a guilty finding. This pattern has been consistent over time. The remaining cases were stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged (32%), acquitted (4%), or resulted in another type of decision (1%).
Probation, either on its own or in combination with another type of sentence, was the most common type of sentence in adult criminal court in 2013/2014, and was handed down in 43% of all guilty cases. The median length of probation was 365 days (one year).
Over one-third (36%) of all guilty cases received a custodial sentence in 2013/2014, the vast majority (87%) of which received a term of six months or less. About 3% of guilty cases resulted in a custody sentence of two years or more. The median length of custody was 30 days (one month).
The median length of time taken to complete a case in adult criminal court was 123 days (around four months) in 2013/2014, up from 120 days in 2012/2013.
A flow chart summarizing the movement of completed cases through the adult criminal court system in 2013/2014 can be found in the Juristat article "Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2013/2014."
Note to readers
The statistical trends presented in this report reflect the progress made by the federal, provincial and territorial governments in establishing and implementing a variety of practices and initiatives to improve the efficiency of the Canadian justice system. These initiatives influence the volume of cases and the processing of those cases before the courts. It is impossible to identify a specific initiative as the source of the changes observed in the statistical trends; but rather, the trends reflect the results of these initiatives combined.
The data presented in this article are drawn from the adult portion (people 18 years and older) of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey. In 2013/2014, information was unavailable from superior courts in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec. Superior court data reported in the 2013/2014 survey represented less than 1% of all completed cases.
Adult criminal court cases that involve more than one charge are represented by the most serious offence. A completed case is defined as one or more charges against an accused person or company that were processed by the courts at the same time and received a final decision.
Data for 2012/2013 are also now available.
Products
The Juristat article "Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2013/2014" (85-002-X), is now available. From the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications, choose All subjects, then Crime and justice, and Juristat.
Additional data are available upon request.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@canada.ca).
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