Advice - Interview for Crown Articling position

[Guanaco]

Hey! 
 

I applied extremely broadly to the first wave of 2026-27 articling recruitment that closed on the 14th in Ontario. My first interview offers are crown prosecutor positions. 
 

Does anyone have any advice for what to study for the interviews? What type of questions will they ask? 

Any reading materials that may help?

Thank you!

[SNAILS]

I have not done the Crown interview. I did do 3L a placement with the Ontario Crown. I hear that it has a lot of substantive law questions, and these questions will focus on practical application of criminal law. A good candidate for a Crown position ought to have been preparing for these questions since 1L. I hope that you have done so by taking criminal focused courses in law school including evidence, criminal procedure, and so on.

In terms of readings, I would suggest dusting off law school CANS / summaries of things you might have learned over a year ago that you are now a bit rusty on. Also, if you "skipped" any of the material that you think other criminal law focussed law students ought to know, perhaps look at an overview of that.

I'll throw some standard (not overly complex) concepts at you, and if you think you can incorporate these into an answer at an interview without to much delay you may be ready for the interview:

• What does it mean at a bail hearing when the Crown wishes to proceed under section 524?
• Under what circumstances would an accused person's criminal record be admissible at trial?
• If the defence wishes to see the psychiatric records of a victim of sexual assault, what is the procedure?
• Describe the Crown's role in a First Appearance or Case Management court?
• When an accused wishes to plead guilty, and a judge does a s 606 plea inquiry, what types of questions might be asked of the accused?
• What kinds of offences are eligible for a Preliminary Inquiry? What happens in a Prelim?
• What is the difference between a summary conviction  and an indictable offence? (no need to get into too much depth)
• Is a conviction for "Careless Driving" under the Highway Traffic Act considered a criminal conviction for purposes of determining if a present "Over 80 mg/100" is a first offence?
• When a victim of a domestic assault refuses to testify, but has given a "KGB" statement, what can you do as a Crown?
• According to the Crown Prosecution Manual, what are two reasons why the Crown might withdraw charges against the accused?
• What happens in "Gladue Court"?
• Where an accused person is convicted of a firearms related offence with a minimum penalty, what should the Crown be aware of during sentencing submissions?
• As a Crown, would you be more likely to seek detention at the bail stage where an accused has allegedly assaulted someone he met on the street on the street or his wife?
• A self rep accused calls no evidence at trial. Should this lead the judge to make a negative inference about his guilt?
• What is the difference between a conditional sentence and an intermittent sentence?

You should know the basic answer to all or most of these questions. I could not give you an A+ answer to all of them myself, but I could give you a B+/A answer. Also, I am not suggesting that you are going to get short, rapid fire questions like these at the Crown interview! These are concepts that you should eb able to issue spot in a larger fact based question. You'll gain points in the interview by spotting the issue and explaining the concept and how it applies.