Information for victims

If you have been the victim of a crime, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney may offer the person charged with the crime an opportunity to take part in the General alternative measures program for adults, instead of dealing with the case through the usual judicial proceedings.

Objectives of the Program

The Program is designed to help you:

  • obtain reparation for the harm caused;
  • increase your feeling that "justice has been done";
  • take part in certain measures if you so wish. 

Operation of the Program

First, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney will assess the offender's eligibility for the Program, and also whether it is in your interest and the interest of society for the offender to take part in the Program.

If the offender takes part in the Program, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney will notify the assistance centre for victims of crime (CAVAC) in your region.

The CAVAC will then contact you to inform you that the offender will be taking part in the Program, and of your rights under the Program. The CAVAC remains available throughout the process to offer you the support you need. 

With your authorization, the CAVAC will forward your contact information to an alternative justice organization (AJO). The AJO will supervise the application of the alternative measures to the offender, and will contact you to offer you an opportunity to take part in a specific measure: taking part in a mediation session with the offender, receiving a personal apology, etc. You are free to choose whether or not to take part in the measures. 

If the alternative measures are completed as agreed, the court may terminate proceedings against the offender. On the other hand, if the offender ends his or her participation in the Program or ceases to perform the alternative measures before they are completed, the judicial proceedings may continue.

Your rights 

While the offender is taking part in the Program you, as the victim, are entitled to:

  • be informed at all times, by the alternative justice organization or a CAVAC, about the measures undertaken by the offender;
  • express your fears or concerns to the CAVAC or AJO concerning the offender's participation in the Program;
  • to decide whether or not to take part in some of the alternative measures proposed.

The document Program (in French) and the procedure in the appendix explain how the Program operates.

Retourner en haut