Statistics Canada Article on Trends in Offences Against the Administration of Justice

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat today published an article on Trends in offences against the administration of justice.

Administration of justice offences include Criminal Code violations such as failure to comply with conditions, to comply with an order, to appear in court and breach of probation.

In 2014, about 1 in 10 Criminal Code (excluding traffic) police-reported offences was such an offence.

Among the highlights of the report:

• In adult criminal courts, over one-third of all completed cases involved at least one administration of justice charge. 
• The rate of police-reported incidents of offences against the administration of justice decreased by 7% between 2004 and 2014, much less than the 34% decline in the overall crime rate. Despite the decrease in the rate of administration of justice offences, there has been an increase in the proportion of them that result in a charge, especially for women (+21% since 2004).
• Despite the overall decline in police-reported incidents of administration of justice offences over the past decade, the most common police-reported administration of justice offence – failure to comply with conditions – increased in 2014. The proportion of completed adult criminal court cases that included administration of justice offences increased from 2005/2006 to 2013/2014.
• In 2013/2014, 39% of cases completed in adult criminal courts included at least one offence against the administration of justice among the charges. Findings of guilt were more common in these cases than in cases that did not include administration of justice charges.