Most people who contact a criminal lawyer have already made one costly assumption: that being reported to police is the same as being charged. It is not — and understanding the gap between those two events is often where a file is won or lost before court is ever involved.
There are three distinct stages between a complaint and a courtroom. Each one carries different legal consequences and different risks.
Stage 1: The Complaint — A File Opens, Nothing More
A complainant contacts police and makes an allegation. Police begin gathering information: interviewing witnesses, reviewing records, examining surveillance, and potentially seeking a statement from the person under investigation. At this point, no charge exists. No criminal record is created. This is an investigation, and the person being investigated has no legal obligation to assist it.
Stage 2: The Grounds Assessment — Where Files Live Or Die
Before a charge can be laid, police must establish reasonable grounds to believe an offence occurred and that the specific person identified is responsible. That standard is not suspicion — it requires an objective evidentiary basis. The Supreme Court confirmed the threshold in R. v. Storrey, [1990] 1 SCR 241. Police conduct throughout this stage is measured against ss. 8, 9, and 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If the evidence cannot support those grounds, the file can close here — without a charge ever being sworn.
Stage 3: The Information — The Charge Formally Begins
A criminal charge starts when a police officer lays an Information before a justice under s. 504 of the Criminal Code of Canada. That single act crosses the matter from investigation into active prosecution. Release conditions, court appearances, and disclosure obligations all follow from this point — not before. Until the Information is sworn, there is no prosecution.
Where Most Avoidable Damage Happens
The investigation stage — Stages 1 and 2 — is where people tend to do the most harm to themselves. They contact the complainant directly, offer informal explanations to officers, or agree to give a statement in the belief that cooperation will end the matter. It frequently does the opposite: it creates evidence that would not otherwise exist.
Early legal advice before Stage 3 is reached allows communication with police to be controlled, prevents unnecessary admissions, and can keep a file from ever crossing into a charge. Once the Information is sworn, those options narrow considerably.
Citations:
Criminal Code of Canada, s. 504 | Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 8, 9, 10 | R. v. Storrey, [1990] 1 SCR 241
