Preface

• Author: Kent Roach
• Pages: 23-25

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PREFACE

TO THE SEVENTH EDITION

This book is designed to provide a concise and current discussion of the

basic principles of Canadian criminal law. To this end, the heart of this

book examines the principles of the general part of the criminal law:

the elements of offences and the relevant defences. It follows the trad-

itional conceptualization of the general part, but it examines unfulf‌illed

crimes and participation in crimes earlier than other works because of

their great practical importance and their effective expansion of the pro-

hibited act. Regulatory offences and cor porate criminal liability are e xam-

ined together because of their functional and contextual similarities.

A few chapters attempt to place the general principles of the cri minal

law in context. Chapter 1 provides an overview of all the topics exam-

ined in the book and some basic and current criminal justice statistics.

Chapter 2 examines the constitutional principles that affect the investi-

gation of crime, the criminal trial process, and the substantive criminal

law as they relate to fault requirements and defences. This chapter in-

cludes new developments in the interpretation of the legal rights in the

Charter with the reasonable limits provision in section 1 of the Charter

in R v KRJ.1 It also includes discussion of new developments in bail in

R v Antic2 and of the right to a trial in a reasonable time, as well as new

developments concerning the important pr inciple under section 7 of the

Charter that criminal offences should not be overbroad.

1 [2016] 1 SCR 906.

2 [2017] 1 SCR 509.