Canadian Criminal Law/Parties

Generally
Section 21 outlines four ways in which a person can be criminally liable for an act. A person can be a principal, an aider, an abettor, or have common intention to commit an offence.

In any of the circumstances, a party to an offence must have both knowledge and intent.

Where a person provides directions or instructions to a potential buyer to make a purchase of drugs from a seller, that can amount to aiding and abetting in trafficking arising from the eventual sale.

Section 21(1)(a): Commits
A person "actually commits" an offence when he does some act "towards the commission of the offence" with requisite mens rea or uses an agent to commit it.

This means that where there is multiple people all doing some act together towards the shared achievement of the offence, each is actually committing the offence as a "joint principle offender".

This means that where it is proven that multiple people acted with an intention to commit murder, it is "legally irrelevant" to determine who pulled the trigger.

Section 21(1)(b), (c): Aiding and Abetting
The actus reus of aiding or abetting is "doing (or, in some circumstances, omitting to do) something that assists or encourages the perpetrator to commit the offence. While it is common to speak of aiding and abetting together, the two concepts are distinct, and liability can flow from either one. Broadly speaking, "[t]o aid under s. 21(1)(b) means to assist or help the actor... . To abet within the meaning of s. 21(1)(c) includes encouraging, instigating, promoting or procuring the crime to be committed"

Section 21(2): Common Intention
A common intention is whether two or more persons "have in mind the same unlawful purpose." The common intention may form "in the instant of the offence being committed, the mutual intention to pursue unlawful purpose and to assist each other therein being formed at the very moment of carrying it out."

So for example, where a second party joins in on an assault by a primary party, there will be a common intention formed.

Murder A girlfriend of the principal was an abettor of first degree murder under s. 21(1)(c) by standing by during the murder and yelled "kill him Georgie".

The girlfriend of a principal was an abettor of manslaughter where she gave the principal a weapon for the purpose of attacking the victim. However, without the formed intent in giving the weapon, there will be no conviction. Unless there is some duty to act, a bystander who is present and watches a murder cannot be found guilty of any offence connected to the murder.

Counselling (s.22)
"Counsel" under this section is more that simply advising, it has the "meaning of actively inducing" (R v Sharpe, 2001 SCC 2)

The mens rea of counselling requires evidence that “an accused either intended that the offence counseled be committed, or knowingly counseled the commission of the offence while aware of the unjustified risk that the offence counseled was in fact likely to be committed as a result of the accused’s conduct"

Where a threat allegedly counsels murder the test to be applied is whether 1) an ordinary person would view the statement objectively would take it as an invitation to kill and 2) the accused either intended or knowingly counselling the victim's murder while aware of the unjustified risk that murder would likely be committed.

Cases on Parties

 * R. v. Opio, 2011 ABPC 392 -- guilty as party to trafficking
 * R. v. Mohamed, 2011 ABCA 350 || convicted as driver; D argued that he was not aware of what was going on
 * R. v. Crowchild, 2011 ABPC 299 -- guilty aggravated assault; not guilty robbery
 * R. v. Laurencelle, 1999 BCCA 511
 * R. v. Sparrow (1979) 51 C.C.C. (2d) 443, 12 C.R. (3d) 158 (Ont. C.A.) -- guilty
 * R. v. Thatcher [1987] 1 S.C.R. 652 -- guilty
 * R. v. McMaster, [1996] 1 S.C.R. 740. -- guilty
 * R. v. Dunlap and Sylvester, [1979] 2 S.C.R. 881.