Corbett Applications -- The Admissibility of the Accused’s Criminal Record
Pursuant to s. 12 of the Canada Evidence Act , a witness may be questioned as to whether he or she has been convicted of a criminal offence. CANADA EVIDENCE ACT Examination as to previous convictions 12 (1) A witness may be questioned as to whether the witness has been convicted of any offence, excluding any offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act, but including such an offence where the conviction was entered after a trial on an indictment. Typically, the relevance of such evidence is in respect of the witness’s credibility; the evidence cannot be used as bad character evidence or for propensity reasoning. There is no presumption against the admissibility of an accused person’s criminal record. To make such a presumption risks keeping the true picture from the jury: R. v. Corbett , 1988 CanLII 80 (SCC), [1988] 1 S.C.R. 670 at paras. 33-35; R. v. N.A.P . (2002), 2002 CanLII 22359 (ON CA), 171 C.C.C. (3d) 70 (Ont.C.A.). ...