Information (formal criminal charge)

An information is a formal criminal charge which begins a criminal proceeding in the courts. The information is one of the oldest common law pleadings (first appearing around the 13th century), and is nearly as old as the better-known indictment, with which it has always coexisted.

Although the information has been abolished in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is still used in Canada, the United States (at both the federal level and in some states) and various other common law jurisdictions.

In Canada, charges under the Criminal Code are either by summary process, or by indictment. Both types of charges begin with an information, except in the rare situation of a direct indictment by the Attorney General.

The form of an information is prescribed by the Criminal Code. Informations are to be drafted using Form 2 for both indictable matters and summary matters.

An information must be sworn by the informant, who is normally a peace officer. The informant then must lay the information before a justice of the peace. The information must contain an allegation that an offence has been committed, within the territorial jurisdiction of the justice of the peace. The justice of the peace then is required to review the information and determine if process should issue under the Criminal Code for the arrest of the individual.

If the matter is a summary matter, the information is then laid before the court with jurisdiction to hear the charges, usually the Provincial Court, and the matter will proceed directly to trial.

In indictable matters, the information is laid before a judge of the Provincial Court for the purposes of a preliminary inquiry, which is a hearing to determine if the Crown prosecutor has demonstrated that there is evidence to support the charges in the information. If the preliminary inquiry judge rules that the Crown prosecutor has satisfied this standard, the Court commits the accused to stand trial. The Crown prosecutor then files an indictment, which is the formal charge to begin the trial, normally in the superior trial court. The indictment is based on the charges originally set out in the information. The Crown is entitled to add additional charges which were supported by the evidence led in the preliminary inquiry, even if those charges were not in the information. However, if the preliminary inquiry judge declined to commit the accused on a charge set out in the information, the Crown cannot include that charge in the indictment. The matter then proceeds to trial on the indictment.

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