Table 2
Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents, sexual and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2010 to 2019

Table 2
Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents, sexual and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2010 to 2019 Table summary
This table displays the results of Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents, sexual and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2010 to 2019. The information is grouped by Level of court, final decision, and most serious sentence (appearing as row headers), Cases linked to incidents of police-reported physical assault, 2010 to 20142, 2015 to 20192 and Cases linked to incidents of police-reported sexual assault, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Level of court, final decision, and most serious sentence Table 2 Note 1 Cases linked to incidents of police-reported sexual assault Cases linked to incidents of police-reported physical assault
2010 to 2014 Table 2 Note 2 2015 to 2019 Table 2 Note 2 2010 to 2014 Table 2 Note 2 2015 to 2019 Table 2 Note 2
number percent number percent number percent number percent
Note ...

not applicable

Note 1

Information on sentencing reflects the most serious sentence handed down by the courts. There can be multiple sentences related to the same charge or case (e.g., a sentence of custody followed by a period of probation). While this does not impact information on sentences of custody, which is always the most serious sentence, it means that percentages for other types of sentence may be underestimated.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

The time periods represent the year in which the incident was reported to police and not necessarily the time period during which the case was completed. The data file used for analysis includes all completed court cases between 2009/2010 and 2021/2022

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Includes conditional sentence, intensive support and supervision, order to attend a non-residential program, fine, community service, reprimand, and other types of sentence.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note: Final decision is based on the most serious decision for any charge in the case. A case that has more than one charge is represented by the charge with the "most serious offence" (MSO). The MSO is selected using the following rules. First, court decisions are considered and the charge with the "most serious decision" (MSD) is selected. Court decisions for each charge in a case are ranked from most to least serious as follows: 1) guilty, 2) guilty of a lesser offence, 3) acquitted, 4) stay of proceeding, 5) withdrawn, dismissed and discharged, 6) not criminally responsible, 7) other, and 8) transfer of court jurisdiction. Second, in cases where two or more charges result in the same MSD (e.g., guilty), Criminal Code sentences are considered. The decision is determined at the accused level, refers to the most serious decision in the case, and, in instances where there were multiple victims, is applied to all victims in the case and not necessarily one specific charge or victim. Incidents may not have linked to courts data for multiple reasons, including survey coverage and time required to complete a case. See Methodology and data sources for more details about the linkage and methodology. Court cases may not have proceeded with the same charges initially laid or recommended by police. Percent calculation excludes cases that resulted in a decision of guilt, but where sentencing detail was unknown.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and Integrated Criminal Courts Survey (linked file).
Adult criminal courts  
Guilty 9,802 51 8,472 48 155,210 52 142,740 48
Custody 5,286 59 3,895 50 48,244 32 46,619 34
Conditional sentence 707 8 745 10 7,650 5 8,320 6
Probation 2,554 28 2,721 35 75,172 50 66,752 49
Fine 148 2 98 1 7,153 5 5,443 4
Other 324 4 284 4 10,662 7 9,415 7
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 783 ... not applicable 729 ... not applicable 6,329 ... not applicable 6,191 ... not applicable
Acquitted 1,397 7 1,439 8 18,157 6 16,936 6
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 7,612 40 7,622 43 124,127 41 136,541 46
Other 243 1 224 1 2,939 1 3,251 1
Total, adult criminal courts 19,054 100 17,757 100 300,433 100 299,468 100
Youth courts  
Guilty 2,224 62 1,753 54 17,640 58 12,367 52
Custody and supervision (including conditional supervision) 255 13 157 10 2,305 14 1,318 11
Deferred custody and supervision 180 9 127 8 817 5 489 4
Probation 1,248 64 988 64 9,262 55 6,767 58
Other Table 2 Note 3 260 13 283 18 4,405 26 3,120 27
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 281 ... not applicable 198 ... not applicable 851 ... not applicable 673 ... not applicable
Acquitted 254 7 234 7 555 2 385 2
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 1,103 31 1,214 38 11,877 39 11,069 46
Other 24 1 30 1 158 1 149 1
Total, youth courts 3,605 100 3,231 100 30,230 100 23,970 100
Total, adult and youth  
Guilty 12,026 53 10,225 49 172,850 52 155,107 48
Acquitted 1,651 7 1,673 8 18,712 6 17,321 5
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 8,715 38 8,836 42 136,004 41 147,610 46
Other 267 1 254 1 3,097 1 3,400 1
Total, adult and youth 22,659 100 20,988 100 330,663 100 323,438 100
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