Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Indian Act
Know Your Rights
Criminal Law
Child Protection
Fair Decision Making
No. The Prosecutor decides what charges go to court.
No. The decision about whether a charge goes to court is made by the Prosecutor. When making their decision, the Prosecutor will only proceed with a charge if:
- there is a reasonable likelihood that the person charged will be found guilty AND
- it is in the public interest to proceed with the charge
The Prosecutor looks at the evidence they have, including witnesses, and also at any defences the accused person may have. They think about what other evidence might be possible to get through more investigation. They might not know what they will do with a charge at first because they won't have all the information or have had enough time to consider it. When they look at the public interest, they think about things like how serious the charge is, the background of the accused, how long ago the offence happened and the length and expense of a trial. They also take into account what the victim thinks about things and whether there are any other ways of dealing with the charge.
