Criminal harassment happens when a person makes another person fear for his own safety or for the safety of someone he knows, while knowing that the other person feels harassed. Merely disturbing or annoying someone is not enough for there to be criminal harassment. Generally, harassment consists of repeated actions that, taken as a whole and depending on the situation, worry the person who is their victim.

For example, while leaving his apartment, Victor finds yet again a letter from Juliet in his mailbox. Right at that moment, he sees her in her car, parked just about 100 meters from his home. Victor starts walking to the metro. Juliet starts the car, speeds up until she reaches Victor, and follows him slowly until the metro station. There, she lowers her car window, waves out her fist, and screeches away. Juliet’s behaviour is criminal harassment.

The victim can first tell the harasser that her behaviour is unwanted and that he doesn’t want any contact with the harasser.

The victim can then ignore the harasser (this decreases the harasser’s power). The victim can also write down what is happening in case he decides to file a complaint. If there is a trial, merely relying on memory might not be enough to give a judge a good idea of what happened, especially if the harasser’s behaviour happened several months or years ago. Better take notes!

For example, here is what Victor did. First, he clearly told Juliet that he wants to end all contact with her and that her behaviour is unacceptable. Then, he avoided all contact with her: he stopped answering her phone calls; stopped opening his door to her; and stopped reading her letters. When he had to deal with important issues, like the sale of their house, Victor always asked another person, like an agent, lawyer, or a friend, to be involved, so that he could avoid seeing Juliet, or at least, avoid seeing her alone.

Victor also kept track of Juliet’s abusive behaviour, like her fit at the mall, in a notebook; he wrote down as much detail as possible. He wrote down the date and time of each of her 42 calls. Victor never talked to Juliet; he just hung up after recognizing her voice, or he wrote down the number appearing on his caller I.D. At work, he saved the 17 messages that Juliet had left in his voicemail. He took down the contact information of two neighbours who had seen Juliet lurking around his home.

If a victim decides to file a complaint for criminal harassment, police officers can either go to his house or ask him to come to the police station, depending on the circumstances. The victim doesn’t have to file a complaint; he can simply contact the police station to get information or to report a situation that could get worse.

But, if the harasser is the victim’s spouse or ex-spouse, the police may ask for charges to be filed against the harasser even if the victim doesn’t want this.

If the victim files a complaint, police officers will ask him to write down his version of the facts. In some cases, the victim’s statement is taped on videocassette. The victim’s statement is often the only evidence available to the court. The victim should, therefore, explain the story in detail.

Depending on how serious a case is, police officers can start an investigation immediately or later on. During this investigation, police officers will meet with the harasser. During the meeting, the harasser will find out that a complaint has been filed against her; police officers will recommend to the harasser to stay away from the victim and to stop bothering him. Depending on the circumstances, police officers can also choose to arrest the harasser right away or later on (for example, if they are informed that the person under investigation ignored their recommendation and went to the victim’s home).

Yes. Following an investigation, police officers can arrest the harasser, and, if there is sufficient evidence, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney can file charges against the harasser. But, the harasser will not necessarily be detained in custody.

Police officers can release the harasser, with or without giving her a court notice (a document that orders the harasser to show up at court on a given date). Police officers can also continue to detain the harasser. In this case, police officers must take her to the court house to appear before a judge. Detention services will then take charge of the harasser. After her appearance (generally, an appearance is when an accused pleads guilty or not-guilty), the harasser can be conditionally released under the conditions described in the law. (Read our Infosheet entitled Conditional release.

If the harasser is conditionally released, police officers generally contact the victim to inform him of the conditions that the harasser must respect. Otherwise, the victim can go to the court house where the clerk can give him a photocopy of the signed undertaking describing the conditions. As a general rule, the harasser must agree that:

• she will not try to contact the victim;
  
• she will stay far from the victim’s home and workplace;
  
• she will give up her weapons and not have them in her possession.

The accused must respect the undertaking she signed in order to remain out of custody. An accused who does not respect a condition contained in the undertaking commits an offence.

If the harasser fails to respect one of the conditions of the promise, the victim or any other person who knows about this can call the police. New charges (failing to respect a condition of an undertaking) can be added to the charge of harassment, and the harasser can be taken into custody until the end of proceedings.

A harasser can choose to plead guilty. A judge will then determine the sentence, and there will be no trial. If the accused pleads not guilty, there will be a trial and, generally, the victim will have to testify.

For many reasons, harassment is difficult to prove. This offence involves repeated events that take place in a particular situation. The criminal and penal prosecuting attorney must try to put in evidence every small piece of the puzzle, so that the judge can have an overall view of the situation.

Going back to our example, Victor tells the judge about Juliet’s unwanted visits, her calls, the fit she threw in public, her aggressiveness, and her violent past. He presents the letters she sent him, and he describes his relationship with her. Victor is clear and precise when he describes the events. Witnesses who saw Juliet’s fit at the mall and two neighbours also testify. The police officers are also present, and they report what they learned from their investigation.

Of course, during cross-examination, Juliet’s lawyer asks Victor a million questions; Victor stays calm and answers simply. The role of Juliet’s lawyer is to defend her interests. He tries to show that Victor lacks credibility and that his memory is unreliable. Victor is glad that he took a lot of notes in his notebook and that he re-read them before trial to refresh his memory!

Sentences are almost never determined in advance. Instead, they depend on various factors. The sentence for criminal harassment can range from discharge or a simple fine to a 10-year prison sentence.

While committing this offence, if a person fails to respect a condition of an undertaking or an order (for example, a probation order), the judge must consider this fact as an aggravating circumstance.

In addition to any sentence, the judge must prohibit the person found guilty of criminal harassment from possessing weapons for ten years (or for life, if it is not the first time that a person has been found guilty of criminal harassment).

For more information on how sentences are determined, read our Infosheets entitled Possible sentences in Canada and Sentencing in Canada.