A Crime Victim's Guide to the Criminal Justice System
Arrest and Release
An arrest is when the police take a person into their custody for the purpose of charging them with a criminal offence. Not every
person charged with a criminal offence will be arrested. The police may give a person an appearance notice at the scene of the
crime, or sometime later they may give the person a summons requiring them to appear in court. An accused person who fails
to appear in court can be charged with another separate offence. Whether or not the person is arrested, an officer swears an
information at the police station charging the person with a crime.
Sometimes accused persons will be kept in jail until they can appear in court. This might occur if, for example, they might not
otherwise appear back in court or if they are likely to commit other crimes before their court date, destroy evidence or threaten
witnesses.
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