Canadian Criminal Law/Offences/Arson

=Arson=

Proof of Offence
In addition to the essential elements of time, location and identity, the Crown should prove the following for each offence:

Arson — disregard for human life
 * 1) the accused caused damage to property by fire or explosion
 * 2) the accused had intention or was reckless in causing damage
 * 3) the accused either:
 * 4) knew or was reckless with respect to whether the property was inhabited or occupied; or
 * 5) the fire or explosion causes bodily harm to another person.

Arson — damage to property
 * 1) the accused caused damage to property by fire or explosion
 * 2) the accused had intention or was reckless in causing damage
 * 3) the property was not wholly owned by the accused

Arson by negligence

Application
The mens rea requirements does not include the need to prove a subjective foresight of the consequences of the act of starting the fire. However, the crown does need to prove the "probable consequences" of starting the fire was known to the accused. The minimal mens rea standard is one of recklessness.

It is often expected that Crown expert evidence will be required to establish the cause of the fire as being from the accused.

Expert Evidence
When weighing the evidence of an arson expert, the Court should consider:
 * whether the expert visited the scene of the fire
 * whether he was present in court for relevant eyewitness evidence
 * whether the defence expert had a flawed understanding of the Crown expert evidence
 * the plausibility of the alternative explanations of the fire

=Possession of Incendiary Materials=