Adult criminal court statistics

The accused was found guilty in 6 out of every 10 cases heard in adult criminal courts in the fiscal year 2002/03, according to new data from the Adult Criminal Court Survey.

One-third (34%) of cases were resolved by being stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged, 3% of cases resulted in the acquittal of the accused, and the remainder (3%) were otherwise terminated by the court (for example, transfer to superior court or to another jurisdiction).

Probation was imposed in 46% of guilty cases, the most frequent sanction. A term of imprisonment was imposed in 35% of cases, and a fine was ordered in 33% of cases. Over half (55%) of all prison sentences were for one month or less.

Cases are taking more time to process. The overall mean elapsed time from first to last court appearance in 2002/03 was more than six months (197 days), compared with 136 days in 1994/95.

During this nine-year period, the mean processing time for cases with a single charge increased from 121 to 185 days, while the processing time for multiple-charge cases increased from 157 days to 209 days.

All provincial and territorial courts reported to the survey except those in Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In addition, superior courts in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon also participated.

In total, the survey covered about 90% of the national adult criminal court caseload. These jurisdictions processed 467,500 cases in 2002/03 involving more than a million criminal charges.

Violent crimes accounted for 27% of cases dealt within court, property crimes accounted for 23%, and administration of justice crimes, such as failure to comply with a court order or breach of probation, accounted for 17%.

Traffic-related crimes represented 14% of cases, and other crimes, such as disturbing the peace, represented 7%. The remaining 13% of cases involved crimes under a federal statute other than the Criminal Code.

The 2002/03 fiscal year marks the second consecutive annual increase in the number of cases heard following a long downward trend in the number of cases processed by adult criminal courts in the eight jurisdictions that have reported to the Adult Criminal Court Survey since 1994/95. This excludes New Brunswick and British Columbia, which began reporting in 2001/02, as well as Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Overall, the number of cases heard decreased 16% from 1994/95 to 2000/01 and increased 10% since then.

Available on CANSIM: tables 252-0015 to 252-0026.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3312.

The Juristat: Adult criminal court statistics, 2002/03 (85-002-XIE20030108423, $9/$75; 85-002-XPE20030108423, $11/$100) is now available.

For standard tables, for more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Information and Client Services (613-951-9023; 1-800-387-2231), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.