What is required to declare someone a dangerous offender?
The Crown must apply to have someone declared a “dangerous offender.” It is not a standard component of criminal sentencing.
In most circumstances, a Dangerous Offender Designation will arise out of a pattern of convictions for violence or sexual violence. A person may be designated a “dangerous offender” through two routes: general dangerousness from violent behaviour and dangerousness from sexual behaviour.
General Violence
In order to be designated a “dangerous offender” through the general violence route, an offender must:
- Be convicted of a “serious personal injury offence” as defined by s. 752 of the Criminal Code; and
-
Be determined by the court to represent “a threat to the life, safety or physical or mental well-being of other persons” on the basis of:
- A pattern of behaviour (which the underlying offence is part of) that shows a failure of restraint and a likelihood of causing death or injury to other persons, or inflicting severe psychological damage on other persons in the future;
- A pattern of persistent aggressive behaviour (which the underlying offence is part of) that shows a substantial degree of indifference to the reasonable consequences of their actions; or
- Any behaviour in relation to the underlying offence that is “of such a brutal nature as to compel the conclusion that the offender’s behaviour in the future is unlikely to be inhibited by normal standards of behavioural restraint.”
Sexual Violence
In order to be designated a “dangerous offender” through the sexual violence route, an offender must:
- Be convicted of a “serious personal injury offence” as defined by s. 752 of the Criminal Code; and
- By their conduct in any sexual matter, show a failure to control their sexual impulses, which demonstrates a likelihood of causing injury, pain or other harm to other persons through a failure in the future to control their impulses.
