What being a ‘party to an offence’ means
By Greg Dunn
The charge of being party to an offence is an intricate and often misunderstood area of law. After all, why should people who may not have been at the crime scene be held criminally liable for what occurred?
Section 21 of the Criminal Code lists three groups of people who are considered party to an offence. The first is the person who “actually commits it.” Simple enough. However, it becomes more complex when multiple people commit an offence together.
Each then becomes a co-principal to that offence. In that case, the court does not need to determine exactly who committed each element of the offence. Instead, every act involved in the offence is deemed to have been committed by all co-principals.
Let’s say that two men attack another man with the intention of killing him. If that happens, it does not matter which of the attackers delivers the fatal blow. As co-principals, the court will hold that both are responsible for the murder.
Aiding in a crime
Section (b) of s.21 says that “parties to an offence” will include anyone who “does or omits to do anything for the purpose of aiding any person to commit it.”
That means that people who play an indirect part in a crime could face the same charge as the main culprit. For example, if a friend says they need a car so they can rob a bank and you lend them your vehicle, you have aided in that crime.
Conversely, if the friend asks you for the use of your car so they can visit family members, you may assume that is a reasonable request. But if they then use your vehicle to flee after robbing a gas station, you would not be considered to have aided in their crime since you did not know that was their intent.
However, you would not be protected from prosecution if you were wilfully blind to what they had in mind. Perhaps you had a well-founded suspicion that they were planning to commit a crime, but you chose to ignore that suspicion when you handed them the keys.
As the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, “Wilful blindness imputes knowledge to an accused whose suspicion is aroused to the point where he or she sees the need for further inquiries, but deliberately chooses not to make those inquiries.”
Other examples of aiding in a crime would be driving the getaway car after a crime or disabling security systems so that criminal activity would not be detected. A third example would be supplying weapons or other equipment used in the crime.
Abetting in a crime
The third of the “parties to an offence” listed in s.21 is anyone who “abets any person in committing it.” Abetting occurs when a person encourages, promotes or instigates a crime to be committed. Even if the person does not aid in the act, they can be charged with being a party to the crime if they encouraged someone else to act in an illegal manner.
With both aiding and abetting a crime, there has to be criminal intent.
Common intention
Section 21 of the Criminal Code adds that people can be charged with being a party to a crime if they had “common intention” to do something, when “each of them who knew or ought to have known that the commission of the offence would be a probable consequence of carrying out” that act.
Penalty for being a party to an offence
If you are convicted of being party to an offence, you could face the same penalty as the principal offender, even though you didn’t directly commit the act. That is because courts treat parties to an offence as equal participants in the commission of a crime.
Depending on the offence, you could face imprisonment, fines or probation, and you will have a criminal record that can have long-lasting consequences on your personal and professional life.
Accessory after the fact
A related charge is accessory after the fact. According to s.23 (1) of the Criminal Code, you can face this charge if you know that a person has committed or been party to an offence, yet you receive, comfort or assist that person.
You can be found guilty of accessory after the fact despite not being found guilty of the offence it relates to. In fact, you can be found guilty even if the principal offender of the offence in question is not found guilty.
A common reason for this charge being laid is when someone helps to cover up the criminal activity of someone they know. For example, a man in Barrhead, Alta., shot and killed a man during a drug transaction at his home in 2013.
After the shooting, he called his sister for assistance. According to a news report, she assisted in wrapping the body in plastic wrap and loading it onto his truck before it was dumped in the woods. She then “cleaned up the murder scene by mopping blood off the living room floor, kitchen counters, sinks and walls and disposing of items by throwing them in the garbage.”
Her brother was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no parole for at least 16 years, and she was sentenced to four years in prison for being an accessory after the fact.
Penalty for accessory after the fact
According to s.463 of the Criminal Code, the available sentences for this charge vary in severity according to the crime committed by the principal whom the accessory was found guilty of assisting.
For example, if the principal offender was accused of committing an indictable offence that carried a possible life sentence, the accessory may be given a sentence of up to 14 years. With other indictable offences, the person convicted as an accessory after the fact would receive a sentence half as long as the main perpetrator.
Call us for assistance
The charges of “party to an offence” and “accessory after the fact” are both complex. If you are charged with either offence, you need an experienced criminal defence lawyer to guide you through the judicial process. Once you are a client, the team at Dunn & Associates will take the time to understand your explanation of what led to the charge and then advise you about your best options. Contact us for a free consultation.