Appeals by the Crown: Grounds

• Author: Steve Coughlan/Alex Gorlewski
• Pages: 320-321

320 Post-trial Matters / Appeals

4.1(a) Appeals by the Crown: Grounds

Was there an

error of law?1

Yes

Yes

Did the error, in

the concrete reality

of the case, have a

material bearing on

the acquittal?2

Dismiss the appealAllow the appeal

No

No

This chart deals specically with appeals from an acquittal on an indictable of-

fence under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 686(4) [Code], and leads into

Chart 4.1(b), Appeals by the Crown: Possible Outcomes. The right of the Crown

to appeal an acquittal is found in s 676, and includes the ability to appeal an

acquittal or nding that the accused is not criminally responsible (s 676(1)(a));

orders quashing proceedings, entering a stay, or otherwise failing to proceed

(ss 676(1)(b) & (c)); and a nding that the accused was unt to stand trial (s

676(3)). That section also permits the Crown to appeal a sentence (s 676(1)(d)),

or various decisions concerning parole for particular sentences (ss 676(4)–(6)).

This chart, however, is aimed primarily at the question of appealing an acquit-

tal. See Chart 4.1(b) for a discussion of the inconsistency in the meaning of

“acquittal” in ss 676(1)(a) and 686(4). See, generally, the discussion of Crown

appeals in Steve Coughlan, Criminal Procedure, 3d ed (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2016)

at ch 12, s B(2), Appeals by the Crown [Criminal Procedure].

1. WAS THERE AN ERROR OF LAW?

Section 676(1)(a) allows an acquittal (or nding that the accused is not crimi-

nally responsible) to be appealed only on “a question of law alone” (s 676(3)

sets this same limit on appeals of a tness to stand trial nding). This is more

limited than the rights of appeal available to an accused: see Chart 4.1(c), Ap-

peals by the Accused: Grounds. Most notably, this means that the Crown can-

not appeal on the basis that an acquittal was unreasonable or could not be

supported on the evidence (R v Biniaris, 2000 SCC 15). That is, there is no such