Criminal Defence
Domestic Assault Lawyers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
A domestic assault lawyer deals with two problems at once: the charge, and the conditions that come with it. The charge is assault under the Criminal Code. The conditions usually say no contact and no return home, and they take effect the first night. This firm defends domestic and intimate partner assault charges in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Criminal Code Charges Domestic Assault as Assault
There is no separate domestic assault offence. The charge is assault under section 266 of the Criminal Code, or assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, or choking under section 267, or aggravated assault under section 268. The relationship between the parties makes it domestic. Section 718.2 makes abuse of an intimate partner an aggravating factor at sentencing, and an accused with a prior intimate partner conviction faces a reverse onus at bail. Simple assault is hybrid: prosecuted by indictment the maximum is five years, and on summary conviction two years less a day.
A Domestic Assault Lawyer Works on the Conditions First
Police in both provinces charge intimate partner cases rather than mediate them. After arrest you are released on an undertaking or held for bail. The standard terms are no contact with the complainant and no attendance at the home, whoever owns it. Those terms stay until a court changes them. A domestic assault lawyer’s first job is to argue for terms you can actually live with, and to apply to vary them when circumstances change.
The Complainant Cannot Withdraw the Charge
Both provinces run prosecution policies written to continue intimate partner cases whether or not the complainant later wants them to. A reconciliation does not end the file. Contact while a no-contact term is in force is a new charge, even when the message was welcome. What the complainant wants is a factor the Crown weighs. It is not a decision the complainant gets to make.
The Crown Must Prove Intentional Force Without Consent
The Crown proves an assault by proving force applied intentionally and without consent, beyond a reasonable doubt. Self-defence under section 34 answers many of these cases, because many begin with two accounts of the same struggle. Reasonable doubt answers others, where the complainant’s account conflicts with the messages, the 911 recording and the photographs. The defence is built from disclosure, and the firm reviews all of it before giving advice on a plea.
Two Outcomes Leave No Conviction
A charge withdrawn on a peace bond under section 810 is not a conviction. Neither is a conditional discharge after a plea, if the conditions are kept. Where the evidence is thin, where the injuries are minor, or where the complainant asks the Crown to consider it, these outcomes are available, and the firm raises them before any trial date is set.
The Courts and Programs Differ by Province
New Brunswick tries these cases in the Provincial Court of New Brunswick, with a domestic violence docket in Moncton, and the New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission covers those who qualify. Nova Scotia tries them in the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, has a domestic violence court program in Halifax, and refers intimate partner cases to its restorative justice program only in defined circumstances. Each province’s page carries its own facts.
The Province Pages
We Live Together. Can I Go Home for My Things?
Only as the conditions allow. Ask for a variation or a police escort. A breach is a new charge and it is the most common way a defensible file gets worse.
When Should I Call a Lawyer?
Before any police interview, and before the bail hearing if you can. The conditions set that day affect the months that follow. Contact the firm as early in the process as possible.
The general assault charge is covered at assault, and every criminal charge the firm defends is listed at criminal defence.