How Does The Bail System Work In Canada?

When someone is held accountable for a criminal offense and is attested, they will have to appear in court and request their release from custody. After careful examination, if everything is in favor of the person, the court agrees, and the person will be granted bail.

What is bail in Canada?

Bail in Canada is commonly known as recognizance of bail, which is a court order that permits the accused the person charged with a criminal offense] to remain in society until the day their case is closed. As per section 11, everyone who is a Canadian citizen has the right to plead for bail. However, there are many situations where the accused is denied bail, and the crown attorneys oppose bail for the accused. During such cases, a bail hearing is conducted with the presence of a judge or justice to decide whether the Crown’s arguments are strong enough to deny bail for the person. This is where hiring a good lawyer becomes vital because they have in-depth knowledge of the law and know what to answer for the Crown’s concerns.

A bail hearing is also known by the name “show cause” hearing. This is because the Crown has to put forward the causes to deny the bail for the accused in the form of the court.

What happens at a bail hearing?

In Canada, the police can arrest a person they suspect as the one who committed the crime, even if there is an arrest warrant. The following procedures depend entirely on the type and seriousness of the offense the person is charged with. In some cases, the accused will be released immediately and will be asked to appear in court on a particular date. In other cases, the accused will be kept temporarily in custody in the police station or the courthouse.
If the police keep the accused in custody, they must mandatorily bring the accused to court within 24 hours of the arrest, to run a bail hearing. Before the bail hearing begins, a prosecutor representing the Crown will closely examine the files of the accused and arrive at a decision on whether they will argue against it or let them out on bail. These prosecutors will have to convince the court whether the accused should continue to stay in custody or be released. The file generally contains a case summary prepared by the officer who investigated the case. An attachment of the accused’s criminal record will be filed along with it.
To keep the community safe and secure, the court judge will provide bail to the accused with certain conditions that have to be strictly followed. If the accused fail to obey any of these, they will be re-arrested and pressed charges for breaching the order. Some of the common conditions are listed below:

A curfew
An order not to use alcohol or any sort of drugs
An order to not be in touch with the co-accused.
To further rescue the threat, the court will grant bail if the accused has a friend or relative ready to act as a surety.
What is a surety?
A surety is a person who takes up the responsibility of an accused and makes sure they follow the court’s conditions. The responsibilities are listed below:
First, they make sure the accused appear to the court on the scheduled dates.
Closely monitoring the accused’s activities to make sure they follow the bail conditions and are not doing any criminal acts.
If the accused fail to obey any conditions, call the police immediately.
A surety is asked to pay a certain amount to the court in case the accused breaches any of the court orders.
Final words
In Canada, the majority of people plead guilty even if it is hard to prove the case against them. By denying bail, they can get out of jail faster. Remaining in custody can negatively impact an individual’s career and education, and maintaining a lawyer who represents them in the court becomes challenging and expensive. Because of all these reasons, bail in Canada is a life-changing fact for an accused and is mandatory to hire a reputed criminal lawyer.