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Assault causing bodily harm is a statutory offence of
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
with aggravating factors. It is committed by anyone who, in committing an assault, causes bodily harm to the complainant. ''Criminal Code'', RSC 1985, c C-46
s 267(b)
.
It is the Canadian equivalent to the statutory offence in England and Wales of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. In Canada, a consensual fight is not considered an assault, but one cannot consent to an assault causing bodily harm.


Bodily harm

Bodily harm is defined as any hurt or injury to a person that interferes with the health or comfort of the person and that is more than merely transient or trifling in nature. This definition is similar (if it is not word for word) to the common law definition of
actual bodily harm Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (often abbreviated to Assault OABH, AOABH or simply ABH) is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and th ...
stated in ''R v. Donovan'' and repeated in ''R v. Chan-Fook'', where the reference to transient or trifling injuries is taken as applying to actual bodily harm rather than bodily harm.


Mode of trial and sentence

Assault causing bodily harm is a hybrid offence or dual offence. It is punishable, on conviction on indictment, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or, on summary conviction, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months. This is a case where the sentence for the offence is specifically defined as greater than the default punishment for summary matters, which is normally up to 6 months. ''Criminal Code'', RSC 1985, c C-46
s 787
.


Comparison to aggravated battery

In many US jurisdictions, aggravated battery is an equivalent to assault causing or occasioning bodily harm. Unlike under Canadian criminal law, however, aggravated battery is always indictable (locally known as a
felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...
).


References

Canadian criminal law {{law-term-stub