What is a Conditional Discharge?

What is a Conditional Discharge?

• Definition:

  • A sentencing option for minor criminal offences.
  • Can be given if deemed in the person’s best interests and not contrary to the public interest.

• Outcome:

  • Guilty finding without a registered conviction.
  • The person  avoids having a criminal record.

How Does It Work?

• Probation Conditions:

  • The judge imposes probation conditions.
  • Conditions may include keeping the peace, good behavior, and no contact with the alleged victim.

• Duration:

  • Conditional discharges  come with probation conditions for a specified period, e.g., one year.

Considerations and Usage:

• Crown’s Offer:

  • The Crown may offer a conditional discharge in certain cases, such as some domestic assault charges without injuries.

• Decision Factors:

  • If maintaining innocence, a trial might be preferred.
  • If acknowledging guilt and facing risks at trial, a conditional discharge might be a sensible option.

Potential Risks:

• Disclosure Concerns:

  • Historically, issues with police disclosing conditional discharges on record checks.
  • Recent legislation aims to address this, but challenges persist.

• Future Impact:

  • A conditional discharge should be purged from the police information center system in three years, as per the law.

Comparison with Absolute Discharge:

• Absolute Discharge:

  • No conditions attached.
  • No probation period.
  • Considered for offences without mandatory minimum sentences.

Conclusion:

• Legal Consultation:

  • Essential to consult with your lawyer.
  • Explore trial options, conditional discharge implications, and potential future impacts.

• Consideration Period:

  • Understand the risks and benefits before deciding to accept a conditional discharge.

In summary, conditional discharges offer a viable sentencing option for minor offences, but careful consideration and legal advice are crucial for informed decision-making.

Now, one of the problems that I have found and read about online and seen with clients’ cases in the past is in our province there’s been really strange disclosure going on by police forces on criminal record checks, on vulnerable sector checks, on what are called police checks, and in some cases they were disclosing too much information to employers. This was very extensively covered in the Toronto Star where occasionally some counties were disclosing there was a conditional discharge when they really shouldn’t be. There was recent legislation brought in place to try and address this situation. It remains to be seen how that is going to play out. I’m concerned that some counties will still disclose this. So that’s one risk if I might put it that way. Having said that, a conditional discharge is often a good option. You need to talk to your lawyer about it. Go through all your options. Whether you should go to trial, whether you should accept the Crown’s offer of a conditional discharge, what that means and how it might affect you in the future. On that note, the law states that on a conditional discharge that the police, the Canadian police information centre should purge that from their system in three years. So you can certainly check to see if they’ve done but that’s very important but that’s going to be in their system for at least three years.

So these are some of the considerations for conditional discharges. Absolute discharges is when you are discharged absolutely. There’s no conditions. So there is no probation period. These are two considerations you should go through with your lawyer and it can apply to those offences where there is no mandatory minimum sentence. For example if you look at sexual assault matters, many of these charges have mandatory minimums and a conditional discharge would not be available. For more minor criminal offences or at least offences with no mandatory minimums, conditional discharges are available as an option that you might want to consider.

Thank you for joining me today.