Canadian Criminal Law/Offences/Robbery

Proof of Offence
There are four different ways that a Robbery can be committed.

343(a): violence to extort or overcome resistance
The essential elements of Robbery under s. 343(a):
 * 1) identity of accused
 * 2) date and time of incident
 * 3) jurisdiction (incl. region and province)
 * 4) Accused steals from victim
 * 5) Accused uses or threats violence
 * 6) threat or violence was for a specified purpose of carrying out the robbery
 * 7) Details on goods taken:
 * 8) value of goods
 * 9) continuity of goods
 * 10) possession of goods by accused (if applicable)
 * 11) the goods were not given voluntarily to the accused

343(b): personal violence at or near time of theft

 * 1) identity of accused
 * 2) date and time of incident
 * 3) jurisdiction (incl. region and province)
 * 4) the accused steals something
 * 5) the accused use of violence shortly before or after theft

343(c): assault with intent to steal

 * 1) identity of accused
 * 2) date and time of incident
 * 3) jurisdiction (incl. region and province)
 * 4) the accused assaults victim
 * 5) the accused intends to steal from victim

343(d): theft while armed

 * 1) identity of accused
 * 2) date and time of incident
 * 3) jurisdiction (incl. region and province)
 * 4) the accused steals
 * 5) the accused is armed with a weapon

Stealing
The term "steal" is defined in s. 2 as meaning "to commit theft". While "committing theft" is defined in s. 322:

See also: Canadian Criminal Law/Offences/Theft

Violence or Threat of Violence: 343 (a)
The violence is made out by an unlawful assault. However, to make out robbery the assault must be for a specific intent.

The violence or threats of violence must be for the purpose of taking whatever that is stolen and so it requires that the violence or threats be before or contemporaneous to the theft.

If however the property was "stolen clandestinely" or "surreptitious[ly]", then the presence of violence or threats of violence to enable escape will not make out a robbery.

Purse-snatching will not make out a robbery where the item was taken before the victim had a chance to resist.

The violence can be used against a target other than the victim being robbed.

An utterance threatening force will be sufficient to make out the violence element of the offence. There is no need to measure the degree of violence.

Conduct alleging to be implicit in its violence or threat of violence is determined by whether a reasonable person would have felt or apprehended that violence was conveyed or threatened in the circumstances.

Passing a note requesting money to a bank teller can be sufficient to make out a threat of violence.

A threat of violence need not be overt. A display of a knife while hooded and a demand for money is an implied threat of violence.

Holding a person down to prevent resistance constitutes violence.

What constitutes a threat comes from the case law of the charge of uttering threats under s.264. If the utterance meets the criteria, it is irrelevant whether the victim appreciated the threatening nature of the utterance. To put it another way, the effect of the threat on the prospective victim is of no consequence.

"Extort" is defined in the shorter Oxford English Dictionary in part as, "To wrest from a reluctant person by force, violence, torture, intimidation".

Stealing with Personal Violence: 343 (b)
"violence" in this section means more than a technical assault. It is determined using a subjective/objective test.

Assault with Intent to Steal: 343 (c)
Assault has the same meaning as s. 266. This includes technical assaults

There is no need to prove that a theft actually occurred.

Weapon Under s. 343(d) the "weapon" must be either (1) an actual firearm; (2) an imitation firearm; or (3) an offensive weapon. Simply using one's hand to imitate a firearm is not sufficient.

Armed "Armed" must be the actual possession of a weapon. This does not include simulating possession of a weapon.

As Opposed to Theft
Given that robbery is a form of theft, there can be cases where the proximity and connection between theft and violence is limited. A theft where there is violence after the completion of the theft can be treated as distinct from robbery.

This distinction is most seen in robbery under s. 343(a) which requires violence or threats to "overcome resistance to stealing". Where the threats are made after the completion of the theft, such as after a shoplifter leaves a store and is followed by staff, threats or violence may be found as only for the purpose of escape and not the purpose of preventing stealing which is already complete by this point.

Dangerous Offenders and Long-Term Offenders
Robbery is classified as a "serious personal injury offence" (s. 752) where there is violence or threats of violence involved.

Included Offences
The following have been found to be included offences:
 * Assault
 * Assault causing bodily harm
 * Theft