Get Help Now
Toronto Bail Lawyer
If a person is not released after being arrested, a bail hearing is required, which normally takes place within 24 hours. It is vital at this time to seek qualified legal counsel who can act promptly and effectively. Failure to secure bail might have immediate and serious consequences for your family, your career, and the course of your criminal case.
Bail Hearings
Judicial interim release is the formal name for bail which is a court-issued release order. Bail allows a person accused of one or more crimes to be released on certain terms while awaiting a trial or other disposition of their case before the Court.
If you are arrested and criminally charged in Toronto, you have the right to seek bail as quickly as reasonably possible under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and as per Common Law. Rather than waiting to have your trial heard in Court while in detention, you could be released on bail. To address fears that a defendant could flee the country or fail to appear in Court, the Justice may impose conditions. Conditions may also be required if there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant would re-offend, based on the individual’s history and/or prior criminal record, or to safeguard the security of complainants and the community at large.
The conditions of your release and the financial component (if any) that must be paid to secure the bail will be decided by the Court. The Court’s determination will be based on various of considerations, including the nature of the offence, the accused’s prior criminal record, financial status, community reputation, and job status.
What is a Surety
A surety is someone who supervises an accused individual in the community while his or her case is being heard in court. The surety must agree to supervise the accused person while he or she is in the community.
Sureties are in charge of ensuring that the accused person attends court as required and complies with all bail conditions. Furthermore, sureties are expected to call the police should the accused breach any condition of their release or fail to attend court. An approved surety must also sign the release order and agree to pledge or deposit a certain sum of money.
Being Released from Custody
You must comply with the terms imposed by the Court once you are released from pre-trial detention. Until your case is resolved, you are bound by the terms of your release.
You may be charged with a new criminal offence if you fail to comply with a condition of your release. The Crown may also file an application to terminate your bail for any matters for which you were previously released should you re-offend or if they bring a bail review application.
Changing Bail Conditions
Changes to your terms can be made with the Crown’s agreement or through an application to the Superior Court of Justice.
At Karapancev Law, we’ve helped clients in Toronto and all throughout Ontario change various release conditions, such as removing GPS ankle monitoring, removing no-contact conditions with Complainants, and altering/removing curfew conditions. Consult Karapancev Law to determine which conditions you want to be removed or changed. We engage in strategic negotiations with the Crown to see if they will agree to the proposed condition modifications. If the Crown refuses, we can file an application with the Superior Court of Justice and make persuasive submissions to get the changes we want.
Securing a Release Order
Even in complicated circumstances, our law firm understands what is required to successfully navigate bail court. We can swiftly examine the allegations and put together a compelling plan to get your release secured owing to our years of experience working in criminal law.
We will prepare a strong bail plan and effectively argue for your release in front of the Bail Court. We will strategically negotiate with the Crown in an attempt to secure your release without risking a contested hearing. If the Crown refuses to agree to your release, we will fight for your freedom at a contested bail hearing. When facing a criminal charge, we believe that everyone has the right to liberty.
Bail hearings are legal and formal proceedings; if you do not know how the court system works, your bail hearing may not go as planned and you may not get the outcome you had hoped for. As a result, we do not advise that individuals represent themselves. Instead, the best way to get bail is to hire a reputable, experienced, and devoted Toronto criminal defence lawyer.
The Cost of Bail in Canada
As a guiding principle, there is no legal requirement that an accused deposit money in order to be released in Canada. Assuming the accused has no criminal record and no outstanding charges, the starting point is that an accused is eligible for release without a deposit of funds. However, the Court may require a surety, a pledge of funds, or a cash deposit in specific cases. If the charged individual complies with the court order’s requirements, the accused and/or surety will not be required to pay any of the bail money for which they pledged or deposited.
However, if the accused violates one or more bail conditions, the Crown might demand that the surety pay part or all of the bail money they pledged. This is known as estreement. The surety will be able to go to court and argue that he or she did everything possible to supervise the accused and so should not be obliged to pay. A judge will consider the circumstances and determine whether the surety must pay the funds sought.
The Grounds for Detention
You have the right not to be refused reasonable bail without just cause. In most cases, the Crown must demonstrate to the justice why you should be detained. The Crown can invoke one of three reasons to justify your detention before a judge or justice of the peace. They are:
- The Primary Ground – To ensure that the defendant appears in court as required;
- The Secondary Ground – To safeguard the public against further offences and to protect witnesses from being interfered with;
- The Tertiary Ground – Maintaining the public’s confidence in the administration of justice.
Reverse Onus Bail
Certain offences may shift the burden of proof from the Crown to the defence, requiring you to demonstrate to the court why your incarceration is unjustified and that you can be safely managed in society. This can include, for example, cases of indictable (severe) crimes allegedly committed while on an outstanding release, offences related to a criminal organization, terrorism, certain firearms offences, if you are not a Canadian resident, and certain violent crimes.
How many chances do you have at bail
Unless you are a young person within the meaning of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, you only have one chance at a bail hearing. Should you be detained, you may have the ability to seek a bail review if the presiding justice committed an error during the initial hearing or if there is a material change in circumstances. However, it can often take weeks or even months for a bail review application to be prepared appropriately and heard. Thus it is critical to choose a bail hearing lawyer who can adequately prepare your bail hearing and is committed to securing your liberty.
Bail Reviews
If you are detained, you can request a bail review at the Superior Court at any time before your trial. A review must be based on factors such as new evidence, a material change in your circumstances, or a legal error that occurred at your initial bail hearing. If your trial has not yet begun, another review option is available after 90 days. This review hearing will assess any delays and the reasons for them, which could result in the proceedings being accelerated, your release if continuing detention is not necessary, or your continued detention if still appropriate. Our Toronto-based law firm has significant experience bringing Bail Review applications for clients throughout the Greater Toronto Ontario.