Fighting Provincial Offences Charges:

Question: What should you do if you’ve been served with a provincial offence (quasi-criminal/regulatory) charge in Ontario, and can a Paralegal help you fight it to reduce penalties or withdraw the matter?

Answer:   Forseti Legal Services can help in Ontario with provincial offence allegations, including reviewing the disclosure, explaining how the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.33 and the Ontario Court (Provincial Division) process guide your case, assessing potential defences, and supporting you through next steps so you understand risks even though a conviction typically does not create a criminal record.  To protect your legal rights and aim for better outcomes, book a free 1/4-hour consultation with a Paralegal at (705) 806-7577.

Provincial Offence Allegations as Being Charges Considered as Quasi-Criminal Matters

Provincial offences are quasi-crimes or regulatory offences in that they are violation of laws enacted to regulate individual conduct for the protection of society as a whole and they are prosecuted by a Prosecutor as an agent of the state, meaning as a representative of the people; however, unlike criminal offences, upon conviction of a provincial offence a person avoids establishing a criminal record.  With this said, although conviction for a provincial offence fails to establish a criminal record, the consequences for conviction of a provincial offence may still carry heavy penalties and consequences for the convicted person.

The Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.33, as well as the Rules of the Ontario Court (Provincial Division) in Provincial Offences Proceedings, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 200, provide the procedural law that guides the process by which offences within numerous substantive law statutes are prosecuted.  The range in matters falling under the purview of provincial offences is very broad.  Concerns involving provincial offences include: