Glossary

• Author: Steve Coughlan
• Profession: Professor of Law. Dalhousie University
• Pages: 475-485

475475

GLOSSARY

absolute jurisdiction offence: An offence listed in section 553 of the

Criminal Code. An accused has no election for these offences, which can

be tried only by a provincial court judge.

ancillary powers doctrine: The process through which new police

powers can be created at common law. The test for the creation of an-

cillary powers is drawn from the British case R v Waterf‌ield, which is

applied in Canada today in a way quite distinct from the approach in its

country of origin.

arrest: An arrest consists of words of arrest accompanied either by the

touching of the person with a view to detention or by the person sub-

mitting to the arrest. The word “arrest” need not be used, provided the

accused can be reasonably supposed to have understood that she was

under arrest. Arrest powers are given in the Criminal Code to every-

one, including private citizens, and additional arrest powers are given

to property owners and peace off‌icers.

Attorney General: A member of cabinet and the chief law off‌icer for a

jurisdiction. The Attorney General has jurisdiction over all or most mat-

ters of criminal law, including law-making and prosecutions. In most

jurisdictions, the Attorney General is also responsible for policing, al-

though this role is sometimes taken on by the Solicitor General or some

other minister. The Attorney General is given various discretionary pow-

ers in the Criminal Code, some of which must be exercised personally and

some of which can be exercised on his behalf by a Crown prosecutor.