Understanding what ‘party to an offence’ means in criminal law

By LegalMatters Staff • People are sometimes charged with being “party to an offence.” But what does that mean?

Section 21 of the Criminal Code lists three groups of people considered to be party to an offence, with the first being the person who “actually commits it.”

“That is simple enough. However, it becomes more complex when multiple people commit an offence together,” Calgary criminal lawyer Greg Dunn says. “Each then becomes a co-principal to that offence. In that case, the court does not need to determine exactly who committed did what, as every act involved in the offence is deemed to have been committed by all co-principals.”

He says the second group of peoploe who could be considered a party to an offence are those who play an indirect part in the crime.

“For example, if a friend says they need a car so they can rob a bank and you lend them your vehicle, you have aided in that crime,” says Dunn. “Other examples of aiding in a crime would be driving the getaway car after a crime or disabling security systems so that criminal activity would not be detected.”

The third of the “parties to an offence” listed in s.21 is anyone who “abets any person in committing it,” he says.

“Abetting occurs when a person encourages, promotes or instigates a crime to be committed,” says Dunn. “Even if the person does not aid in the act, they can be charged with being a party to the crime if they encouraged someone else to act in an illegal manner.”

With both aiding and abetting a crime, there has to be criminal intent, he adds.