Crown Election and the Mode of Trial

The Crown election is the prosecutor’s choice, on a hybrid offence, to proceed either by summary conviction or by indictment. It is made early, it can sometimes be revisited, and it sets the ceiling on what can happen to you. Most of the charges the firm defends are hybrid, so this choice does more to shape a file than almost anything else in the early stages.

What the Crown Election Changes

On the summary track the general maximum under section 787 of the Criminal Code is a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment of two years less a day, unless the particular offence says otherwise. Summary proceedings also carry a limitation period: under section 786 they cannot be started more than 12 months after the events unless both sides agree. The indictable track has no such limitation and higher maximums.

Some Offences Give No Election at All

A purely summary offence has only one track, and a purely indictable offence has only the other. Section 553 puts a group of indictable offences, including lower value theft and fraud, in the absolute jurisdiction of a provincial court judge, so they stay in provincial court whatever anyone would prefer. A short list of the most serious offences under section 469 is reserved to the superior court instead. The theft charges page notes where the dollar threshold falls.

Your Own Election Follows the Crown’s

Where the Crown proceeds by indictment and the offence is not in either reserved group, section 536 puts you to your own election. You may choose trial by a provincial court judge, trial by a superior court judge sitting alone, or trial by judge and jury. Declining to choose is treated as choosing judge and jury.

The Preliminary Inquiry Is Now Narrow

A preliminary inquiry is a pre trial hearing where the Crown must show enough evidence to commit the case for trial. Since 2019 it is available only where the indictable offence is punishable by 14 years or more, under section 535, and only on request. For most files it is no longer on the table.

What This Decides in Practice

The election decides which courthouse you are in and whether a jury is possible. It also drives how long the file takes to reach an end. It is negotiable in some files, and a Crown that elects summarily removes the higher exposure entirely. Nothing here can be assessed before disclosure is read, and the paths that avoid a trial altogether are set out in the chapter on resolution without a trial. To discuss an election on a live charge, contact the firm.