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An 'alibi is a type of defence found in legal proceedings by demonstrating that the defendant was not in the place where an alleged offence was committed. There may be legal ramifications for not disclosing a true alibi defence, as well as penalties for providing a false alibi.
Alibi Defence
An alibi is a judicial mode of defense under which a defendant proves or attempts to prove that the person was in another place when the alleged act was committed; as, to set up an alibi; to prove an alibi. The Criminal Law Deskbook of Criminal Procedure states: "Alibi is different from all of the other defenses...it is based upon the premise that the defendant is truly innocent." In the Latin language "alibi" means "somewhere else".
Duty to Disclose
In some legal jurisdictions there may be a requirement that the defence disclose an alibi defence prior to a trial.
In Canada, the defence must disclose an alibi defence with sufficient time for the authorities to investigate the alibi, and with sufficient particularization to allow for a meaningful investigation. Failure to comply with the two requirements will result in the court making an adverse inference against the alibi defence (but will not result in the exclusion of the alibi defence).
Risk of early Alibi Disclosure
Note that in cases where a defendant is charged with multiple similar offences, allegedly committed by the same perpetrator, disclosing an alibi for any particular individual offence prematurely may actually hurt the defence. In such a situation the prosecution must rely on the fact that the defendant has no alibi for any of the alleged offences and may additionally want to show that it is extremely unlikely that this is a coincidence. This means that allowing the prosecution to reduce the list of alleged offences to the ones for which no alibi is available (see confirmation bias) may significantly weaken the defendant's case in court.
False alibi
The giving of a false alibi, beside resulting in possible subsequent criminal offences (obstruction of justice, perjury, etc.), may, in some jurisdictions, result in negative ramifications for the trial itself.
In Canada, the giving of a false alibi may be used by the court as actual evidence of guilt, provided certain requirements are met. Specifically:
- The alibi must not be believed;
- There is evidence of an intention to fabricate the alibi that is independent from the evidence used to show the alibi is false; and
- The court must reject all innocent explanations offered that would explain why a false alibi was fabricated.
Alibi Agency
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An alibi agency provides fictional explanations for unexcused absences, eg. due to an extramarital affair. Originating in 1990s Japan, such services appeared in Europe in ca. 2004, where they were condemned as immoral by the Catholic Church in Germany. They are the subject of the 2006 movie The Alibi.
References
- 1988; ISBN 0-8205-1217-6
- R. v. Cleghorn, S.C.R. 175 at para. 3
- R. v. Hibbert, 2 S.C.R. 445
- R. v. O'Connor, (2002) 170 C.C.C. (3d) 365 (Ont. C.A.)