Fail to Comply with Bail

Generally, it is a criminal offence to violate any valid condition on a recognizance of bail, undertaking to a police officer, probation order, or peace bond.

What does the crown need to prove in order to establish the offence of failing to comply?
To establish guilt, the crown must prove that the accused was bound by the order setting out the condition (meaning that the court order hadn’t yet expired), the accused breached the condition set out in the order, and that the accused person intended to violate the condition in the order. Therefore, if the accused accidentally violated a condition of his bail he would not be guilty of the offence.

For example, if the accused was required to remain 500 metres from a specific address and was found 480 metres from the address, it may be open to him to argue that he wasn’t aware he had breached the distance condition of his bail. If believed, the accused would be found not guilty of the offence.

What if I had a good reason for violating my bail condition?
In some circumstances, it may be impossible for an accused person to comply with a condition of his/her bail. For example what if the accused was not permitted to leave their residence after 11:00pm and at 12:00am, the accused got very ill and had to go to the hospital? In this instance, the court may accept that notwithstanding the fact that the accused was in violation of their bail condition to remain inside, they had a reasonable excuse for leaving and would therefore be found not guilty. In such circumstances, it is for the accused to convince the judge on a balance of probabilities of the validity of the excuse in order to be found not guilty.

What if I was violating my bail condition and I don’t have a good reason for doing so? Should I just plead guilty?
Quite often, the Crown Attorney is unable to prove that an accused person was actually violating their bail condition as alleged by the police. Sometimes the Crown is missing the proper witnesses to prove the case while there are other times where the Crown does not have the required documents necessary to establish that the accused person was on a bail in the first place. Pleading guilty to this type of offence can not only lead to a jail sentence (even for a first time offender) but it can also be a significant factor in denying bail for a future offence (since it will be proven that on a prior occasion, the accused person did not comply with a condition of their bail and are therefore likely to disregard future court orders in the same manner). A decision to plead guilty should not be made until the accused person has reviewed all of the evidence in the case with his defence lawyer to determine what, if any defences to the charge, are available to him.

What if my constitutional rights were violated? Will I still be found guilty of the offence?
In some circumstances, the fact that the accused person was illegally stopped and searched by police which lead to the discovery of the bail violation may in fact be a possible defence to the charge. I have represented a number of accused persons who have been found not guilty of violating their bail conditions, notwithstanding the fact that technically they were doing something their bail prohibited them from doing. Ultimately, if the police had no legal basis for detaining and questioning the accused, the Court will generally rule that the evidence derived from the illegal encounter should not be used as evidence in the trial. Quite often, without this evidence, the Crown Attorney is unable to prove the case.

If you or someone you know has been charged with failing to comply with bail or other court order, you should immediately contact a criminal lawyer to determine your best defence to this type of criminal charge. I can be reached for a free consultation at 416.297.7200.