Crown
2 definitions found for this term.
Definitions are presented in the order source books were published (most recent first).
The sovereign power as head of the state or monarchy. In all Commonwealth countries, including Canada, which acknowledge the queen of England as the formal head of state, the government (or state) is commonly referred to as “the Crown.”
The term refers to the government or state, or prosecution team, in youth justice court or adult criminal cases. In some contexts, the term “Crown” refers to the lawyer who represents the Crown in court; this person may also be referred to as the Crown attorney or Crown prosecutor. Occasionally, if the Crown is unwilling to prosecute, cases are prosecuted “privately,” typically by the victim or a lawyer acting on the victim’s behalf, but this is rare in youth justice court as section 24 of the YCJA requires the consent of the Attorney General to a private prosecution of a young person.
