Internet crime Lawyers in Canada

The Crown is the prosecutor. A person charged with an offence is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that is a right in section 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Section 172.1(1) makes it an offence to communicate by a means of telecommunication with a person who is, or who the accused believes is, under the age of 18, 16 or 14 years, for the purpose of facilitating an offence that the section lists for that age. Under section 172.1(3), evidence that the person was represented to the accused as being under that age is, absent evidence to the contrary, proof that the accused believed it. Section 172.1(4) limits the argument that the accused believed the person was older unless the accused took reasonable steps to ascertain the age.

Section 162.1(1) covers knowingly publishing, distributing, transmitting, selling, making available or advertising an intimate image of a person, knowing the person did not consent or being reckless about it. Section 162.1(1.1) covers threatening to do so with the intent to intimidate or to be taken seriously. An intimate image can include a visual representation made with artificial intelligence software.

Section 342.1(1) covers acting fraudulently and without colour of right to obtain a computer service, to intercept a function of a computer system, or to use, possess or traffic in a computer password that would enable such an offence. Section 430(1.1) separately covers wilfully destroying or altering computer data, or interfering with its lawful use.

Section 402.2(1) covers obtaining or possessing identity information with intent to use it to commit an indictable offence that includes fraud, deceit or falsehood as an element. Section 402.2(2) covers trafficking in it. Section 403(1) covers fraudulently personating another person, living or dead, with an intent the section names, such as gaining an advantage or avoiding arrest or prosecution.

Luring under section 172.1(2) is punishable on indictment by up to 14 years in prison, with a minimum punishment of one year. On summary conviction the maximum is two years less a day and the minimum is six months.

Publishing an intimate image, or threatening to, carries up to 10 years on indictment under section 162.1, or the offence can be prosecuted by summary conviction. Section 342.1 carries up to 10 years on indictment, or summary conviction. Under section 402.2(5), the maximum on indictment is five years, with summary conviction available. Identity fraud under section 403(3) carries up to 10 years on indictment, or summary conviction. Mischief in relation to computer data under section 430(5) carries up to ten years on indictment, or summary conviction. A maximum is a ceiling, not a prediction of the sentence.

A conviction for luring a person under 18 can also bring an order under section 161. The court shall consider making, and may make, an order prohibiting the offender from using the Internet or other digital network unless the offender does so in accordance with conditions set by the court. The prohibition may be for life or for a shorter period, and breaching it is itself an offence with a maximum of four years on indictment.

Online cases often turn on records held by someone else. Under section 487.012, a peace officer or public officer may demand that a person preserve computer data in their possession or control, if the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence has been or will be committed and that the data will assist the investigation. A demand about an offence under an Act of Parliament expires 21 days after it is made unless it is revoked earlier.

A production order is a different tool. Under section 487.014, on an application made by a peace officer or public officer, a justice or judge may order a person to produce a document or data. The justice or judge must first be satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been or will be committed and that the document or data will afford evidence respecting it.

The Crown has to prove who did the act, not only that an account or device was used. That is a question of evidence in each case.

Some sections build in limits. Section 342.1(1) applies only where the conduct is fraudulent and without colour of right. Section 162.1(3) says no person shall be convicted if the conduct serves the public good and does not extend beyond what serves the public good.

Charter rights apply throughout. Section 8 gives everyone the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure, which is the right at issue when police take digital records or search a device. Section 10 gives a person on arrest or detention the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right. Under section 24(2), evidence obtained in a manner that infringed Charter rights is excluded if admitting it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Whether a right was infringed is for the court to decide.

In Ontario, every charge under the Criminal Code starts in the Ontario Court of Justice, and about 95% of charges are completed there. The Superior Court of Justice generally tries only the most serious indictable offences.

A person who is arrested may be taken before a justice for a release decision. Under section 515, the justice shall make a release order without conditions unless the prosecutor shows cause why detention in custody is justified or why another order should be made. Section 11(e) of the Charter protects the right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause.

After a conviction on indictment, an appeal goes to the court of appeal under section 675. A person may appeal as of right on a question of law alone. An appeal on a question of fact, or of mixed law and fact, needs leave, and so does an appeal against sentence. A summary conviction appeal in Ontario goes to the Superior Court of Justice sitting in the region, district or county where the case was decided, under sections 812 and 813.

Legal Aid Ontario may pay for a lawyer if the person qualifies and is charged with a crime that could mean jail on conviction, or is 12 to 17 and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Duty counsel, a lawyer at the courthouse for that day, can advise on rights, ask to delay a court date, act at a bail hearing, help with a guilty plea, speak at sentencing, and meet the Crown, for people who qualify and have no lawyer.

A legal aid certificate pays a roster lawyer, one approved to take legal aid clients, for the length of the criminal case. Applications are online or by phone at 1-800-668-8258.

The Law Society of Ontario keeps a public Lawyer and Paralegal Directory, where a lawyer's licence can be looked up. The Ontario lawyers on this site are listed by city. Nothing on this page ranks or recommends any of them.