Breach of Release Conditions

From Criminal Law Notebook
This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2020. (Rev. # 80027)

General Principles

A violation any terms of release conditions issued under s. 515 can result in one or more of the following:[1]

  1. arrest for violating a summons, appearance notice, promise to appear, undertaking or recognizance (524(1)(a) or (b));
  2. cancellation of the release order and order that the accused be kept in custody for a further bail hearing (524(4));
  3. Release on new undertaking or recognizance (524(5)); and/or
  4. A charge for breach of undertaking or recognizance (145(5.1)).
  5. a application for estreatment of recognizance.

Where an accused is arrested for an offence while released on a recognizance, the recognizance will remain in place.[2]

A recognizance remains in effect from the sureties remain bound by the conditions under section 764 (1) despite the breach allegation and arrest warrant being issued.[3]

Burden of Proof

When restrictive conditions contain exceptions, there is no burden upon the Crown to disprove the applicability of any of the conditions.[4] The burden to prove the applicability of an exception to a condition lies on the accused on a balance of probabilities.[5]

  1. R v O'Connor, 2015 ONSC 1256 (CanLII), per Price J, at para 43
  2. s. 765
  3. R v Lowingali, 2009 ABPC 185 (CanLII), per Daniel J
  4. R v Ali, 2015 BCCA 333 (CanLII), 326 CCC (3d) 408, per Stromberg-Stein J, at paras 26 to 30
  5. Ali, ibid., at para 30

Topics

Historical

See Also