Do Not Agree With Crown Decision
A victim may be upset with a decision made by the Crown prosecutor, such as a decision to:
- proceed with charges when the victim is unwilling
- not proceed with charges
- stay the charges
- accept a plea to a lesser charge
In particular, a victim may feel they were not sufficiently consulted before the decision was made. Victims have the right to:
- state their views about decisions that affect their rights and have those views considered; and
- present a Victim Impact Statement and have it considered.
See the Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (PLEA) website for more information on Victim’s Rights.
However, Crown prosecutors exercise ‘prosecutorial discretion’. This includes the discretion to make decisions, including, but not limited to, whether or not to:
- prosecute a matter
- stay or withdraw a charge
- accept a guilty plea or a lesser charge
- appeal a court decision
Generally, the Law Society will not review the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The Law Society may review if it looks like the Crown prosecutor’s discretion was exercised in bad faith. See the Common Questions below for examples of bad faith.
If you believe a Crown prosecutor has not appropriately exercised their discretion or followed proper procedure, submit a complaint.
Common Questions
Bad faith on the part of a Crown prosecutor can include any of the following:
- Concealing information in violation of the law
- Ignoring or hiding relevant cases and authorities that don’t support their position
- Deliberately misleading the court
- Engaging in discrimination on a prohibited basis
- Delaying decisions on files, especially when they affect:
- the accused’s incarceration;
- public safety; or
- public confidence.
- Actively engaging in “judge shopping”
Judge shopping is a practice of trying to replace a judge that has been assigned to your file with another one in the hopes that the new judge will be more favourable for your case.
You can set out your specific concerns in writing to the Director of Prosecutions at the Ministry of Justice for Saskatchewan. The mailing address is:
300, 1874 Scarth Street
Regina, SK S4P 4B3