NCJ Number
101609
Date Published
1986
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the development of law on break-and-enter (B-E) offenses, reviews the current status of B-E in Canadian Criminal Code and its shortcomings, and proposes a scheme for restructuring these offenses.
Abstract
While the development of the law in Canada has been marked by a move away from the narrow common law definition of the offense, the current law is overly technical and artificial and suffers from a lack of clarity both in definitions and in presumptions concerning intent and the burden of proof. To alleviate these deficiencies, it is recommended that the B-E offenses be restructured as criminal intrusion or aggravated criminal intrusion (e.g., intrusion involves entry into a dwelling, armed entry, endangering of persons in the premisies), Under this restructuring, the requirement of breaking would be eliminated and the prohibited action would consist of entering or remaining in a building or structure adapted for overnight accommodation or for the carrying on of business.