In everyday language, the expression “spousal abuse” refers to violence between couples and is defined as follows in a Quebec government document called the Politique d’intervention en matière de violence conjugale: prévenir, dépister, contrer:

Spousal abuse is characterized by a series of repetitive acts that often occur on an ascending curve, i.e., escalating violence. The attacker follows a cycle of successive stages defined by increasing tension, aggression, exculpation, remission and reconciliation. The victim correspondingly experiences fear, anger, responsibility for the violence and, finally, hope that the situation will improve. Not all the stages are always present, and they do not always follow this order.

Spousal abuse includes psychological, verbal, physical and sexual attacks in addition to acts of economic domination. It is not a loss of control, but is, contrarily, a reflection of the aggressor’s need for power and control, a way of dominating the other person and asserting his authority over her. It can occur in marital, extramarital, or any other relationships at any stage of life.

You can consult this policy (in French only) on the website of the Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux.

One of the spouses may commit one or several criminal offences when a couple separates without there necessarily being spousal abuse as defined above. This is called “violence between spouses” rather than “spousal abuse”.

Nonetheless, the police treat all violence between spouses as spousal abuse. The difference (i.e., the lack of the power and control dynamic) will be taken into account only if the accused is found guilty and then only during sentencing.

In À BON PORT, Éducaloi uses the term “spousal abuse” to refer to both “spousal abuse” and “violence between spouses”.

The term family violence is used in Quebec to refer to violence toward children and other members of the family, such as grandparents. Family violence can also describe an adolescent’s violent behaviour toward another member of the family, such as a parent, brother, or sister. Spousal abuse is distinct from family violence.

There is no specific criminal offence of spousal abuse. The rules of criminal law apply whenever spousal abuse corresponds to a criminal offence. But some types of abusive behaviour, such as domination and certain types of verbal abuse, do not qualify as offences and are not covered by criminal law.

All violent offences defined under the Criminal Code that can occur between spouses may constitute spousal abuse. They consist mainly of:

• assault;
  
• intimidation;
  
• criminal harassment;
  
• threats of bodily harm or death;
  
• attempted murder and murder.

To learn more about these offences, consult the Infosheet entitled Main offences against the person.

Other offences that are sometimes committed following a separation include:

• offences committed on the couple’s property, or one of the spouse’s property (see Main offences against property);
  
• offences related to the house or the residence (see Main offences against the home);
  
• offences related to police work or legal proceedings (see Main offences against the administration of justice);
  
• abduction of children.

Two police officers are dispatched to the scene whenever emergency services receive a call for help involving spousal abuse. The police consider a person’s physical integrity or safety to be threatened when they receive this type of call.

Once they arrive, the police stop the violence and take the necessary steps to protect the victim. They can arrest the person they believe committed the offence.

The police gather evidence about the offence that was committed and complete an incident report. They then submit the report to the Crown prosecutor and ask that charges be laid against the arrested person.

After the separation, one of the spouses may have reason to fear that the other spouse will hurt her or another family member or damage property.

In such a case, the spouse can ask the court to issue an order to keep the peace, commonly called a “peace order” or an “810”. The number comes from section 810 of the Criminal Code, which sets out this preventive procedure.

A person who wants her spouse to be ordered to keep the peace must fill out a document called an "information" (by herself or with the help of a lawyer) and submit it at the courthouse. She must indicate in this document her reasons for fearing her spouse. In legal terminology, the person who fills out such a form is called the "informant". The informant must swear before a justice of the peace that the information provided in this form is true.

The application is then presented to the court and the informant must appear before a judge to explain why the other person should promise to keep the peace and respect certain conditions. The informant must justify fears of harm by explaining the situation and, for example, referring to the spouse’s violent or threatening acts, harassment, or statements. The informant can also introduce the testimony of witnesses (the police, for example) or documents as evidence.

The person named in the request for an order to keep the peace, called the “defendant”, must also appear before the judge during the hearing.

Once the informant has presented reasons for fearing the defendant, the judge speaks to the defendant and asks if he agrees with the facts and is willing to promise to keep the peace and respect certain conditions. The defendant might agree to the order, or he might decide to introduce evidence to convince the judge that the informant has nothing to fear.

There is no need to prove that the defendant actually committed an offence. The judge must simply be satisfied that the informant’s fears are well-founded. If she concludes the fears are well-founded, the judge can protect the safety of the informant or her children by ordering the defendant to make an undertaking (a promise). The defendant is then ordered to keep the peace and behave well for one year. Finally, the judge will ask the defendant to sign a document (called a “recognizance”) summarizing this promise. If the defendant refuses to sign the recognizance, the judge can sentence him to a maximum of 12 months in prison.

The recognizance can contain other conditions the judge considers necessary, such as:

• prohibiting any direct or indirect communication with the informant or her children;
  
• prohibiting the defendant from being around the informant’s residence or workplace;
  
• prohibiting the defendant from possessing firearms.

A recognizance to keep the peace is not a criminal conviction. This means a defendant who signs a recognizance will not have a criminal record.

If the defendant is prohibited from contacting the informant’s children, the informant can distribute a copy of the undertaking to the children's school principal or daycare administrator.

Any voluntary breach of the recognizance to keep the peace is a criminal offence.

A person protected by such an order can ask the police to intervene as soon as one of the conditions is breached. If this happens, the police will arrest the person who has violated the condition and ask the prosecutor to begin criminal proceedings for breach of a recognizance.

Yes, but remember that an order to keep the peace is a preventive procedure meant to ensure the safety of people who fear for their safety. Once an offence is actually committed, the victim has the option of filing a complaint with the police. In any event, the police can themselves lay criminal charges if an offence was committed, regardless of what the victim wants.

Yes, but only in exceptional cases and only if the Crown prosecutor agrees. A victim who decides to proceed this way must contact the Crown prosecutor. The prosecutor will investigate the victim’s reasons to ensure that the request is not the result of threats or pressure by the accused, or by acquaintances of the accused. Note that similar cases may be treated differently depending where in Quebec the complaint is filed.

Of course, the victim must agree to offer this option to the accused spouse. Finally, if the accused spouse signs the order, the charges will be dropped, so there will be no criminal record.

Every year, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique publishes criminal statistics in Quebec, including statistics on spousal abuse. You can consult these statistics on the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Quebec’s website at www.msp.gouv.qc.ca. Other statistics are available on the Institut de la statistique du Quebec’s web site.