Pilot study of method to review closed organized crime files
4. The SPSS research database (cont'd)
D. CHARGE-LEVEL DATA
1. Charges Laid
In all, 1,487 charges were laid across all the files reviewed. For eleven accused, no charge was laid in Canada (for example, files with an extradition or mutual legal assistance request), for a total of 1,498 entries in the charge-level file. Charges were laid under the following Acts:
| Act | Number of Charges | Percentage of Total Charges Laid |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal Code | 619 | 41.6% |
| Controlled Drugs and Substances Act [2] | 533 | 35.8% |
| Narcotic Control Act | 198 | 13.3% |
| Excise Tax Act | 70 | 4.7% |
| Income Tax Act | 40 | 2.7% |
| Customs Act | 12 | 1% |
| Immigration Act | 9 | < 1% |
| Immigration Protection Act | 2 | < 1% |
| Nature of charge undecipherable | 4 | < 1% |
Specific sections of the Acts under which charges were laid are too numerous to mention here, although, in summary form for the three principal Acts, they are: Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
- Sections 4 (possession; 5%), 5 (trafficking; 62%), 6 (importing; 3.5%), 7 (production; 7.5%), 8 (possession of proceeds; 20%) and 9 (laundering of proceeds; 2%).
- Narcotics Control Act. Sections 3 (possession; 5%), 4 (trafficking; 39%), 5 (importing; 9%), 6 (production; .5%); 19.1 (possession of proceeds, 36%) and 19.2 (laundering of proceeds; 9%).
- Criminal Code. Over 30 sections were noted, with the vast majority (76%) being conspiracy charges laid under 465(1). The next most frequent charge under the Code was for firearms offences under section 92 (5%). Nine charges for criminal organization offences were laid under 467.1.
Among the conspiracy charges under the Criminal Code (465(1)), the majority, (just under 50%) were for trafficking. The table below shows the breakdown of conspiracy charges in the reviewed files by type of conspiracy.
| Nature of Conspiracy | No. of charges | Percentage of total conspiracy charges laid |
|---|---|---|
| Trafficking | 232 | 49.4% |
| Importation | 61 | 13% |
| Importing and Trafficking | 54 | 11% |
| Smuggling Contraband | 41 | 9% |
| Possession of Proceeds of Crime | 23 | 4.9% |
| Cultivation | 20 | 4.3% |
| Possession | 15 | 3.2% |
| Possession for the purposes of trafficking | 13 | 2.8% |
| Laundering proceeds of drugs | 2 | < 1% |
| Possession of a prohibited weapon | 2 | < 1% |
| Exportation | 1 | < 1% |
| Unspecified | 6 | < 1% |
2. Disposition/Outcome (by charge)
Reporting disposition by charge was not possible because we were unable to reliably find specific outcomes for each and every charge for accused with multiple charges in the file review. In other words, information contained in the files on outcome, for accused with multiple charges, was often solely associated with the accused and not with each charge. While this information was not readily available from the hardcopy files, it may be available in CASEVIEW in the future.
[2] Which replaced the Narcotic Control Act
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