What is the general process in going through the criminal justice system as a defendant?
Criminal proceedings have at their heart jurisdiction over an individual person. The criminal process typically starts with an allegation or evidence of criminal wrongdoing. In the simplest sense, a person is investigated for a crime either based on a complaint from another individual, or through a police investigation. If the police are given information which leads them to believe, on reasonable and probable grounds, that an offence has been committed, they are generally duty-bound to lay a charge. It is important to remember that our system of law does not typically put the police in the position of being judges and deciding a case at the investigation stage: if they have information, they have to act on it and lay a charge. Where the police believe an offence has been committed, they next need to compel the defendant to go to court, in answer to the allegation. In many cases, to get the process started, the police will arrest the individual. From that point, the individual can be g
