What is bail?
Bail is a that lets you remain in the community while your case is in the court system. Bail is also known as a “ of ”. A is not a . The judge or justice of the peace doesn't decide if you're guilty or innocent. Instead, they decide if you should go back into the community while your case is in criminal court. If they release you, they will also decide if you must follow any specific rules while you're in the community.
These rules are called conditions. If they don't release you, you must stay in jail while your case is ongoing.
A bail is also known as a . “Show cause” means the Crown must show the court that you need to be kept in jail for one or more of these reasons:
- If they release you, you will not come back to court.
- You are a danger to the public because you will likely commit another crime or interfere with the witnesses or victims in your case.
- Because of the circumstances of your , the public will feel that the justice system is not working if you're let out of .
The Crown might agree that you should be released but disagree with you about what conditions you should follow. The Crown must convince the court that the conditions they are asking for are needed.
Reverse Onus
In some situations, you will need to “show cause” and convince the court that you should be released. This is called a “reverse onus” bail hearing. You will have a reverse onus bail hearing if you are charged with certain crimes or if you have a certain criminal history.
Most of the crimes that need a reverse onus bail hearing are indictable offences. Indictable offences are the most serious. You will need a reverse onus hearing if you are charged with:
- with your bail or court order
- a crime that involves violence against your intimate partner and you have already been found guilty a similar offence, even if you got a conditional or
- an that you committed while you were out on bail for a different indictable offence
- an indictable offence where you used a gun, for example armed robbery or with a weapon
- most serious gun and drug offences, for example drug or weapons trafficking, stealing guns, or having a gun illegally
- a serious violent crime and you have been of a similar serious violent crime within the last 5 years
