You can call the police for protection if you believe your safety, or that of someone else, is threatened. The first priority of the police is to protect the victim.

Once they arrive and get the violence under control, the officers will isolate or separate the spouses and make sure any injured person receives medical attention. They will ask the victim spouse and the person suspected of committing the offence to explain what happened. The police will also talk to witnesses, if there are any.

The officers will ask the witnesses, victim, and the suspect spouse to write a statement describing what happened. This step usually takes place at the police station. Sometimes, the statement is videotaped. The police will also take photos of any injuries, if necessary.

The police will record their version of the facts in an incident report and will seize any weapons the accused possesses, or any documents allowing the accused to purchase such weapons.

The police will ask the victim spouse not to communicate with the suspect spouse. The Director of Youth Protection (DYP) is advised if any children were involved. The police will inform the spouses about the resources available to them, such as community resources, shelters, treatment programs, the CAVAC and health and social services networks, etc.

If the police have reasonable grounds to believe that one spouse has committed an offence, they can arrest him regardless of whether the other spouse intends to press charges. You should note that arrest is a separate issue from that of pressing charges against someone. For example, a person can be arrested without ever have any charges laid against him, while another person might be charged with an offence without ever having been arrested.

An arrest can be made with or without a warrant. An arrest warrant is a document signed by a judge ordering police to arrest a certain person.

A warrant isn't needed in certain circumstances. The Criminal Code gives the police the right to arrest someone without a warrant in the following situations:

• the police catch someone committing an offence;
  
• the police have reaonable grounds to believe the person is about to commit an offence;
  
• they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person has committed a crime.

In order to have “reasonable grounds”, the police must first have been informed of the commission of an offence. This information can come from an emergency 911 call or from their own observations. They must then find out a little bit more about the circumstances of the offence, either by talking to the victim or witnesses, from what they observe at the scene (such as an injury), or from their investigation.

The police do not have “reasonable grounds” and cannot legally arrest someone if the victim, witnesses or circumstances do not provide sufficient information and the officers themselves did not witness the offence.

The police handcuff the arrested person, do a brief search, and ask the person to identify himself. A police officer reads the person his constitutional rights (right to a lawyer, right to remain silent, etc.). To learn more about this subject, consult the Infosheet Your Rights During an Arrest.

Under the law, a detained person must be released, with or without conditions, as soon as possible after the arrest. The arrested spouse will be detained and taken to the police station if the victim spouse’s safety is threatened. The police can then decide to keep the person in detention if certain conditions provided by law are satisfied. To learn more, see the sections in Côtécour that explain arrest.

The police will consider many factors before deciding whether to release the detained person, including drug or alcohol problems, how the person behaved when arrested, information gathered during the investigation from witnesses and the victim, and whether the victim intends to permanently separate from the arrested person. The main factors that determine what decision is made are the following:

• the risk that the person will re-offend;
  
• the existence of a prior criminal record (in particular, violent offences or failure to respect court orders);
  
• the gravity of the alleged acts.

But there is a big difference in how these factors are interpreted and applied in spousal abuse cases from region to region, as well as from one police officer to another.

For example, in some regions, the police conditionally release most of the people who are arrested. In other districts, though, the arrested person is almost always kept in jail and brought detained to the courthouse to appear before the judge. The court then decides whether or not to release the accused. To learn more, see the Infosheet Interim Release (bail hearings).

When taking a statement, the police will guide the victim, witness or suspect by asking questions about the incident. Some witnesses write their own statements. In most cases, though, the police officer writes down the events as recounted by the witness, who then reads and signs the document.

The statement is an important document that will be read by the police, lawyers, judges, social workers, etc. It will serve as the basis for many important decisions, especially before the trial.

A person’s statement can also be useful to jog his memory at trial. Trials are sometimes held months after the offence has allegedly been committed and it is surprising how many important details can be forgotten. The statement helps to refresh the person’s memory before testifying and (where permitted by the court) even while on the witness stand.

Ideally, the statement will include:

• A description of the facts. When drafting a statement, the victim (or witness) must always remember that neither the police, the lawyers nor the judge were there when the offence was committed. They know nothing about the incident, where it took place, or the people involved. The incident must be related in detail, including who was there, what time it was, where the incident occurred, etc. In addition, acts of violence, if any, must be described. The victim can specify how many blows were struck and where. Any threats uttered must be repeated as faithfully as possible.
  
  
• An explanation of the relationship with the attacker and the attacker’s personality. Who is the attacker? How long has the victim known this person? Does the person take drugs? Alcohol? Does the attacker own any weapons? If yes, how many? Where are they? Is the victim afraid of this person? If yes, why? Is the person usually violent? Have there been other violent incidents in the past? If yes, when? How many times? etc.

Yes. The police will automatically inform the victim spouse if the arrested spouse is conditionally released. Moreover, the conditions of release are registered in the police computer system (the Centre de Renseignement Policier du Québec) as soon as possible so that all police officers have rapid access to the information.

The victim is entitled to receive any documents detailing the accused person’s conditional release. These documents are available from the police officer in charge of the case or at the courthouse from the criminal and penal registry (click here for addresses). The police are sometimes overwhelmed with work and, despite all good intentions, the victim may not be notified about developments in the file. If this happens, the victim can contact the police officer in charge of the case directly for information on the proceedings.

The victim spouse must inform the police officer in charge of the case, the prosecutor, and the courthouse staff of new contact information when moving or going away for an extended period, so they may notify the victim regarding:

• the date and conditions of release;
  
• if the accused escapes;
  
• the victim impact statement about the consequences of the offence;
  
• the result of legal proceedings (for example, the sentence, conditions of probation, acquittal);
  
• a summons to appear in the event of a trial (also called a subpoena).

The same rules apply to spousal abuse cases before the court as for any other criminal proceedings. To learn more about these rules, you can consult the section devoted to the Court of Québec, Criminal and Penal Division in Côtécour.

However, the Criminal Code does say that if the offence constituted “mistreatment of the spouse, common-law spouse, or children” by the accused, the judge shall consider this as an aggravating factor when handing down a sentence in the event of a guilty verdict.

There are also slight differences with regard to varying the conditions of release and what is commonly known as “withdrawing a complaint”. These special rules are formulated as guidelines to the Crown and can be found in the Politique d’intervention en matière de violence conjugale. To learn more, you can consult the Infosheets entitled Withdrawing a Complaint and Conditional Release.

Anyone who makes a false complaint commits a criminal offence. The police are generally able to figure this out rather quickly, and it doesn't happen often.

However, sometimes there are charges based on unfounded accusations despite the that all the different people involved have taken steps to prevent this. This type of situation highlights the importance of the presumption of innocence, a fundamental principle of our legal system.

Remember that it is an offence to lie to the court.

A spouse who has been falsely accused can file a complaint with the police against the accusing spouse. A falsely accused person can also launch a civil court action against the spouse for damages, including lost work time, loss of reputation, etc.