What the Law Says About ... Physical Abuse
Assault Assault with a weapon or assault causing bodily
harm
Aggravated assault
Criminal negligence
Criminal negligence causing bodily harm
Criminal negligence causing death
Failure to provide necessities of life
Sexual assault
Sexual assault with a weapon
Sexual assault which causes bodily harm to the
victim
Murder
Manslaughter
Unlawfully causing bodily harm
Applying intentional force to another person; or trying or threatening to apply force to another person; or causing other person to believe reasonably that abuser has ability to carry out threat; or while wearing or holding a weapon openly (or something that looks like a weapon) accosting a victim. Over-medication of someone could also be an assault.
Assault with a weapon or assault causing bodily harm
Assault while using, carrying, or threatening to use a weapon; assault that actually causes physical harm. Bodily harm constitutes any hurt or injury that interferes with health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.
Assault which wounds, maims, disfigures, or endangers the life of the victim.
Showing complete disregard for someone’s life or safety by doing something, or not doing something, when there is a legal duty to do or not do the act. Criminal negligence can be a form of culpable homicide. So, if someone dies as a result of an act of criminal negligence, the person who committed the act could be charged with murder.
An example of a legal duty that might lead to a charge of criminal negligence would be the duty to provide the necessities of life imposed by the Criminal Code. In order to establish that the offence has been committed it is not necessary to show that the accused intended to be negligent. It is enough to show he or she was indifferent as to what happened. A court will look at the surrounding circumstances of a particular case to determine if they affect whether the conduct of an accused was reasonable.
Criminal negligence causing bodily harm
Causing harm by criminal negligence to someone that constitutes any hurt or injury that interferes with his or her health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.
Criminal negligence causing death
Where the criminal negligence of an offender is a contributing factor to the death of someone.
Failure to provide necessities of life
Failing to provide the necessities of life to a spouse, or to someone under another's charge, where that person is unable to provide him- or herself with the necessities of life or cannot provide the necessities of life because of detention, age, illness, mental disorder, or another reason. The offence is committed where the failure to provide the necessities of life results in the life or health of the spouse or person in the charge of another being endangered.
A couple who have cohabited or who have recognized each other as spouses will be treated as lawfully married unless there is contrary evidence. The fact that a spouse may be unable to support a spouse may be a lawful excuse. Necessities of life mean those things necessary to preserve life, for example, food, shelter, heat, medical aid. Courts look at whether the conduct is a marked departure from the standards of a reasonable person in all the circumstances of the case.
An assault committed in circumstances of a sexual nature.
Sexual assault while using, carrying or threatening to use a weapon; assault that actually causes physical harm. Sexual assault while threatening to cause bodily harm to someone other than the person being victimized.
Sexual assault which causes bodily harm to the victim
Sexual assault which actually causes physical harm. Bodily harm constitutes any hurt or injury that interferes with health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.
Causing the death of a person with the intention of doing so, or acting with the intention of hurting a person knowing that it is possible that death will occur; causing someone else to die while intending to kill or harm another; causing death to someone while trying to achieve an unlawful goal (e.g., theft), even though unintended.
Murder can be reduced to the lesser charge of manslaughter when it was committed after provocation in the heat of passion; murder where there was no specific intent to kill.
Unlawfully causing bodily harm
Interpreted as an act of violence towards another person. Bodily harm constitutes any hurt or injury that interferes with health or comfort and is more than just a passing concern.
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Updated: November 3, 2003
© Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd. 2002
