Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Assaults

Marginal note:Uttering threats

• 264.1 (1) Every one commits an offence who, in any manner, knowingly utters, conveys or causes any person to receive a threat

  • (a) to cause death or bodily harm to any person;

  • (b) to burn, destroy or damage real or personal property; or

  • (c) to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird that is the property of any person.

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (2) Every one who commits an offence under paragraph (1)(a) is guilty of

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or

  • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Every one who commits an offence under paragraph (1)(b) or (c)

  • (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or

  • (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Marginal note:Assault

• 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.

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.

Marginal note: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.

Marginal note: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.

Marginal note:Aggravated assault

• 268 (1) Every one commits an aggravated assault who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant.

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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).

Marginal note:Unlawfully causing bodily harm

269 Every one who unlawfully causes bodily harm to any person is guilty of

• (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years; or

• (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Marginal note:Aggravating circumstance — assault against a public transit operator

• 269.01 (1) When a court imposes a sentence for an offence referred to in paragraph 264.1(1)(a) or any of sections 266 to 269, it shall consider as an aggravating circumstance the fact that the victim of the offence was, at the time of the commission of the offence, a public transit operator engaged in the performance of his or her duty.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (2) The following definitions apply in this section.

  public transit operator

  public transit operator means an individual who operates a vehicle used in the provision of passenger transportation services to the public, and includes an individual who operates a school bus. (conducteur de véhicule de transport en commun)

  vehicle

  vehicle includes a bus, paratransit vehicle, licensed taxi cab, train, subway, tram and ferry. (véhicule)

Marginal note:Torture

• 269.1 (1) Every official, or every person acting at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of an official, who inflicts torture on any other person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (2) For the purposes of this section,

  official

  official means

  • (a) a peace officer,

  • (b) a public officer,

  • (c) a member of the Canadian Forces, or

  • (d) any person who may exercise powers, pursuant to a law in force in a foreign state, that would, in Canada, be exercised by a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), or (c),

  whether the person exercises powers in Canada or outside Canada; (fonctionnaire)

  torture

  torture means any act or omission by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person

  • (a) for a purpose including

    • (i) obtaining from the person or from a third person information or a statement,

    • (ii) punishing the person for an act that the person or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, and

    • (iii) intimidating or coercing the person or a third person, or

  • (b) for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,

  but does not include any act or omission arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. (torture)

• Marginal note:No defence

  (3) It is no defence to a charge under this section that the accused was ordered by a superior or a public authority to perform the act or omission that forms the subject-matter of the charge or that the act or omission is alleged to have been justified by exceptional circumstances, including a state of war, a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) In any proceedings over which Parliament has jurisdiction, any statement obtained as a result of the commission of an offence under this section is inadmissible in evidence, except as evidence that the statement was so obtained.