This is a person who helps you get bail by agreeing to supervise you while you are on bail. This includes making sure you do not commit any more crimes and that you go to court as required. A surety must pledge money as security for your release. If you fail to comply with a condition of your bail, your surety may lose the money they pledged.
A resolution is a way of handling a case without going to trial. For example, if you qualify for resolution:
If you plead guilty, you accept responsibility for the crime you're charged with. You give up your right to a trial. The Crown won't have to prove you committed the crime.
After you plead guilty, you will have a sentencing hearing.
If you plead not guilty, you have the right to a trial where the Crown will try to prove the crime against...
A hearing is a formal proceeding that takes place in a courtroom. During the proceeding, evidence and arguments are presented. A judge or justice of the peace makes a decision based on the evidence and arguments.
This is a criminal offence that is committed when a person is compelled to appear in court but fails to do so without a lawful excuse. A person can be compelled to appear in court by an appearance notice, an undertaking, or a recognizance, or by being bound over by a judge.
These are defence lawyers who work at criminal courthouses to help people who do not have their own lawyers. They are paid for by Legal Aid Ontario. Duty counsel help people at bail hearings, in set date court, or sometimes at guilty pleas. They can offer basic legal advice. In some areas duty counsel may assist in other proceedings.
A custody order is a court order. It sets the terms and conditions for the people who are allowed to spend time with a child, or have custody of that child. When a person has custody of a child, they have the right to make important decisions about how to care for that child, such as the child’s education and health care.
When you are in custody it means that you are detained and are not free to go. You may be held in custody by the police, or by correctional officers in jail.
A conditional sentence is also considered custody, even though the restriction on your liberty occurs in the community (usually house arrest).
This is a person who alleges that they are the victim of a criminal offence. For example, in an assault case, the complainant is the person who says they were assaulted.
The co-accused are other people who are charged on an information with you. They may or may not be charged with the same offences as you. But their charges are related to yours. Their charges and yours likely involve the same incident.