The long arm of the criminal law routinely reaches beyond the specialized files of criminal law practitioners, requiring every lawyer to have a working understanding of this important field of law. Whether a client seeks basic explanation with respect to a drinking and driving charge, a family law negotiation witnesses an abduction by a non-custodial parent, or a corporate transaction is potentially impacted by proceeds of crime provisions, non-criminal lawyers require an effective resource to provide the necessary context and a clear narrative of the relevant law.

Newly revised and thoroughly updated, Halsbury's Criminal Offences and Defences (2020 Reissue) is that resource. It sets out the law governing criminal offences in Canada, as codified by the Criminal Code of Canada, and the various technical and substantive defences that are available to an accused, either in the Criminal Code or through the operation of common law. The updated title also covers the 2019 amendments to the offences in the Code, including those pertaining to impaired driving and intimate partner violence, and addresses the revised mens rea requirements, the newly hybridized offences, and the deletion of reverse onuses resulting from Charter rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Topics covered include: