Shoplifting - Criminal Code - National

Canadian Legal FAQs

National > Criminal Code > Shoplifting:

My daughter was caught taking some chocolate bars without paying. The store owner said he won't lay charges but wants to meet with us to talk. What charges could she have faced?
She's just a kid and her friends dared her to see if she could get away with it. Is that really theft?
Shouldn't there be a difference between stealing a chocolate bar worth 75 cents and stealing $50,000 worth of jewelry from a store?
What is shoplifting?
How does the law distinguish between theft under $5,000 and theft over $5,000?
What are the penalties if my daughter were convicted of theft as a summary offence?
What if a person is convicted of theft under $5,000 as an indictable offence?
How does the prosecutor decide how to proceed?
After catching my daughter shoplifting, the store owner detained her in a back room of the store and told her he was going to call the police. Did he have the right to do that?
The store owner went through my daughter's backpack looking for more stolen property. Did he have the right to do that?
The store owner asked my daughter a lot of questions. Did he have the right to do that?
My daughter was afraid not to answer the questions, so she did say some things to the store owner. Can these statements be used against her?
Who is a person in authority?
What are the rules about statements made to persons in authority?
What happens if all these rules are not followed when my daughter made a statement?
What if my daughter doesn't have a lawyer in court with her?
What if we don't want to engage a lawyer to handle this?
Do these rules always apply to statements young people make?
If the police had been called, would my daughter have had to talk to them?
What additional rules do the police have to follow?
Do parents have to be notified in situations like this?

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