Bail Services:
People never get arrested at convenient times. Our office has lawyers available 24/7 to assist with preparing for a bail hearing.
Our Approach to Bail Hearings:
In order to secure bail, there must be a carefully thought out plan of release. The court wants to know that the alleged offender won’t likely be committing further criminal offences while on release.
Our team will craft a release plan that works for the accused and his family or friends. We view the bail hearing as the first stage of success in the criminal process. We want to ensure that the conditions of release are reasonable and that our clients will be able to not breach those conditions. In order to ensure the best results, we will customize a tailored bail release plan for each client’s unique circumstances.
We will work with your proposed sureties. We will work with your family. We will work with your employer.
Our goal is to keep people out of jail and win their case.
How Does Bail Work in Ontario?
The bail system is both simple and complex at the same time. Most offences are Crown onus meaning the prosecution must establish that the accused is not suitable for release. Certain more serious offences have “reverse onuses” which means the accused must meet the onus and establish they are releasable on the three grounds. Usually, accused with outstanding offences are in a reverse onus situation even if the new charges are very minor.
The three grounds are the: primary, secondary and tertiary grounds. The primary ground is concerned with the potential for flight and whether or not an accused will attend court. The secondary ground is focused on whether or not there is a substantial likelihood the accused will commit further offences while on bail. Finally, the tertiary ground is concerned with maintaining the public confidence in the justice system.
In Canada, we do not have bail bondsman. Rather, we have a surety system or cash deposit system. If an accused is not ordinarily resident within 250 km of the offence then they will have to make a cash deposit to be released. Sureties and accused persons can pledge amounts without deposit based on their net worth. If there is a breach of the bail these monies can be taken by the state in an estreatment hearing.
What are the Consequences of Breaching Bail Conditions?
We try to set our clients up for success by obtaining reasonable bail conditions that they can abide by throughout the process. We also do our best to try to relax conditions as the process unfolds on the path to trial. We don’t want our clients to breach bail.
A breach of bail will result in the accused being arrested and held for another bail hearing. It is much harder to secure bail after a breach. The conditions will be more onerous.
If an accused is found guilty of breaching their bail or “failing to comply with their recognizance” that will often result in a jail sentence and a permanent criminal record.
If the accused pledged money, a surety pledged money, or cash was deposited those monies are at risk of being taken by the state in an estreatment hearing.