If you have ever watched Scooby Doo, you know about those meddling kids. Always up to mischief of some kind, but not typically criminal mischief.
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Section 430 of the Criminal Code defines the parts of mischief as it encompasses a wide range of offences so it is a rather commonly committed offence.
One of the most common uses of this section is for people causing problems for other people.
Mischief, as per section 430(1) is committed when someone willfully: destroys or damages property; renders property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective; obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property; obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.
There are more subsections within section 430 that address computer data, definitions of property, types of property, conviction punishments and limitations of the section. Another offence that can overlap with mischief is section 175, causing a disturbance.
These two sections are the go-to for people causing problems for others that reach a criminal level.
As with all sections of the Criminal Code, law enforcement must consider the criminality of the behaviour and the actions and intentions of anyone being dealt with if these sections come into play.
Laws with consequences have elements of the offences to be met for the offence to be considered committed or attempted and these will be explored in a future article. While someone may have technically committed an offence, it might not be criminal in nature and would be where officer discretion can come into consideration.
Back to mischief. The most common offence within this section concerns someone interfering with the use or enjoyment of property or the damage of property.
If someone intentionally throws a rock at your car window and damages it, that is mischief.
If a person grabs your phone and throws it on the ground damaging it, that is mischief.
If someone is causing issues at a church by yelling, swearing, pacing and flailing around and refusing to leave, this could be considered mischief because they are interfering or interrupting the lawful enjoyment of the church, which is defined as property. A more common setting for mischief of this kind is a house or retail store.
The lesser-used section of mischief is related to computer data. This is where someone damages the actual data and not just a storage device of the data.
Also included in mischief is when a person does something or omits doing something that endangers life. Again, this section can cover a wide array of acts or omissions but the key element here is that it caused actual danger to life.
Mischief can be a summary or indictable conviction offence and the difference between these two boils down to the type and seriousness of the offence committed as the potential punishment between them varies.
Hopefully, this will help you differentiate between mere meddling and actual criminal mischief.
– Staff Sgt. Jerry Nutbown, is the NCO in charge of the Lloydminster RCMP detachment’s General Investigation Section. Stay tuned for future articles from the Lloydminster RCMP.
This column was originally published in the Nov. 7, 2024, edition of the Meridian Source.
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