SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A test to determine if persons charged in spousal assault cases are likely to re-offend is now being used by police and crown prosecutors in the NWT to help assess if an accused should be released on bail.

The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) helps police, victim services and lawyers determine if a person who commits an assault on their spouse is likely to commit another assault on the same person if they are released from jail.

Barry Nordin, chief federal prosecutor for the NWT regional office of Public Prosecution Services of Canada, said the test is given to those arrested in spousal abuse cases. The score is added up from a checklist of 13 criteria, including whether or not the person has a criminal record, has committed prior assaults against the victim, and whether or not there is support available within the community for the victim.

Nordin said the test is used to determine the secondary grounds of release

"The police have to make this call every time they deal with a person," Nordin said, adding the intent is to "prevent the accused from tampering with the administration of justice and from committing offences while out on release."

The assessment was created from research gathered from nearly 600 cases from Ontario Provincial Police and municipal police forces.

Researchers found 13 factors that were most highly predictive of future violence. Nordin said the risk of assault can be predicted with high accuracy using these criteria alone, reducing the need for a comprehensive assessment in order to evaluate the risk of re-offence.

"It does not mean we will stand up in a bail court and say a person has an ODARA score of nine and we want them detained," Nordin said.

"If you want to be technical and precise it could play a huge role if the crown were prepared to call an expert sociologist on every bail hearing to explain how it works. But we're not in a position to do that.

"Instead what we will do, after the police form their opinion, we will ask them what the ODARA score is so it can help us to determine the severity of the case."

He said while the test isn't meant to make the judge's decision, it is a helpful tool in focusing cases.

"It's a very useful process because it focuses the investigators' attention on these factors and our attention on these factors," he said, adding the score generally won't be given during bail hearings because of the lack of experts in the territory to explain the assessment and how a score is reached.

"It doesn't replace anybody's discretion," he said.