Legal information for activists
Definitions
| Acquittal | Charges by indictment (serious crime). “The most serious criminal offences in the [Criminal] Code, such as murder or dangerous driving causing death, are indictable offences. The Code provides a specific maximum sentence for each indictable offence and for some, a minimum sentence is also provided so that the judge cannot impose a lesser sentence." - Ligue des droits et libertés (League for Rights and Freedoms) |
| Civil disobedience | “May include any action taken in contravention of a legal norm in order to expose its illegitimacy.” In other words, the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. - Ligue des droits et libertés |
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Civil suit |
A breach of private law that contains the fundamental rules relating to persons, the family, property and obligations. It is the common law applicable to relationships between individuals. - CAIJ Quebec and Canadian Law Dictionary |
| Class Action | “Allows you to file a civil suit on behalf of all those who have experienced a similar situation.” - Ligue des droits et libertés |
| Constitutional Rights | The rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some of these rights are protected under certain conditions. - Canadian Legal Information Institute |
| Criminal law |
Law governed by the Criminal Code (all types of offences): can lead to the creation of a criminal record. - CAIJ Quebec and Canadian Law Dictionary |
| Criminal offence | No statute of limitations, harsher penalties than 'summary offences' - CAIJ Quebec and Canadian Law Dictionary |
| Crown Prosecutor (or Deputy Attorney General) | A lawyer in the service of the government who is responsible for representing the State before the courts in criminal or penal matters. - CAIJ Quebec and Canadian Law Dictionary |
| Direct Action | "Denounces and aims to stop a situation, decision, policy or project by means of action that proves to be illegal." - Ligue des droits et libertés |
| Discharge | When a person is convicted, a sentence that does not result in a criminal record.
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| Injunction |
An order of the Superior Court enjoining a person or, in the case of a legal person, partnership or association or other grouping without legal personality, its officers or representatives, not to do or to cease to do a certain thing or to perform a certain act. - CAIJ Quebec and Canadian Law Dictionary |
| Person without status | Person who has been refused asylum, person who did not leave when his visa expired, etc. - Ligue des droits et libertés |
| Political profiling | "Any action taken by a person or persons in a position of authority with respect to a person or group, for reasons of public safety, security or protection, that is based on factors such as political opinion, political belief, allegiance to a political group or political activity, without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, and that has the effect of subjecting the person to differential scrutiny or treatment. Political profiling also includes any action by persons in authority who apply a measure disproportionately to segments of the population because of, among other things, their real or presumed political opinions or beliefs.” - Ligue des droits et libertés |
| Racial profiling |
"Any action taken by a person or persons in authority with respect to an individual or group of individuals, for reasons of safety, security or public protection, that is based on factors such as race, color, ethnic or national origin, or religion, without actual purpose or reasonable suspicion, and that has the effect of subjecting the individual to differential scrutiny. More and more complaints of this type are being made to the Human Rights Commission. Racial profiling is, on balance, the result of intolerance, misunderstandings, lack of cross-cultural communication and preconceived notions by police officers." - Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP; Collective against police brutality) |
| Regulatory offence | “Regulatory offences are the least serious, such as disturbing the peace (section 175), participating in an unlawful assembly (section 66(1)) or being naked in a public place (section 174). A person convicted of such an offence is liable to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars and imprisonment for not more than two years less a day (section 787 (1))." They do not result in a criminal record. After 12 months, it is no longer possible to prosecute; if you do not receive the information that you are under arrest before this term, the process stops. - Ligue des droits et libertés |
| Social profiling | "With the goal of "cleaning up" the public space, social profiling is a form of discrimination that consists of police officers and other law enforcement officials imposing fines on people who do not "seem to conform to society" through the strict application of municipal regulations for minor infractions. Marginals, itinerants, punks, homosexuals, prostitutes, immigrants, the poor, etc. are all targets in order to "protect and serve us". This type of profiling is only meant to give the impression of a "beautiful image of the city" in front of tourists." - Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière |
Risk Assessment [1]
Assess your risk and capacity for participating in actions that risk arrest.
Risk: can be defined by legal, social, physical or financial consequences. There are individual factors which may place some people at higher risk of harassment, violence, arrest and more when taking higher-risk actions. Furthermore, certain circumstances can keep people from doing as much as they wish they could safely. Factors/circumstances that may increase your risk or decrease your capacity when participating in actions include:
- Member of a marginalized group (BIPOC, LGBTQ2+ etc).
- Lack of experience and/or knowledge in de escalation
- Absence of legal status in Canada (undocumented immigrants, International students)
- Having ties to the targeted group (i.e. parent who works for the bank) OR ties to a company highly supported by the targeted group
- Having past arrests
- Being a student who receives significant financial aid
- Staying in a shelter or supportive housing
- Critical medical or disability needs
- Mental health related factors
- Financial/work constraints
This is not an exhaustive list. Please take your own personal factors into account when assessing your level of risk.
- ↑ www.bankingonabetterfuture.org