This book sets out and examines the law governing criminal procedure in Canada. It explains the body of rules and principles that govern the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of any offence enacted by Parliament for which an accused person would have a criminal record if found guilty by a court exercising jurisdiction under the Criminal Code. These include such things as police powers to search, detain, or arrest; the right to counsel; interim release; disclosure and production; informations and indictments; jury selection and deliberation; trial within a reasonable time; and appeals.

This fourth edition updates the law in all areas of criminal procedure. Most notably, it incorporates significant discussion of Bill C-75, which has made changes to a great many areas of the Criminal Code, including powers of arrest, preliminary inquiries, and the jury selection process. In addition, it includes discussion of significant new Supreme Court of Canada cases, such as Le on arbitrary detention and racial profiling; Fleming v Ontario on powers of arrest; Saeed on search incident to arrest; Marakah, Jones, Reeves, and Mills on reasonable expectation of privacy; Antic on bail; and Jordan, Cody, and KJM on trial within a reasonable time.