Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS)

Age of cases of information case, category

Age of cases refers to the length of time (in days) that court cases have been open, on an average day in the year. It is expressed as the proportion of cases that had been open for a given amount of time (e.g. less than 6 months).

Information case combines all charges against a single accused that are laid under a single Information. An Information is a written document that is sworn under oath, typically by a police officer or Crown counsel, to a justice of the peace that alleges a person has committed a criminal offence. The laying of the Information initiates criminal proceedings against an accused. The Workload Time Series Database uses the Information case definition. In standard Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) reporting, the ICCS case definition is used to report on completed cases only. This ICCS definition uses an approach that links person-charges where they share key dates including date of offence, first appearance date, and final decision date.

The data for this variable are reported using the following classifications and/or lists:

• Age of cases