Police Release and Bail After a Charge

Police release and bail are two different ways out of custody, and most people leave through the first one. An officer can release you at the station on a document that sets your court date and your conditions. Only if the officer refuses does a court decide, and that decision has to happen quickly.

The Officer Decides First

Under section 498 of the Criminal Code the officer in charge must release a person arrested without warrant as soon as practicable, unless one of the listed public interest concerns applies, such as establishing identity, preserving evidence, preventing repetition of the offence, or protecting a victim or witness. Release at this stage usually comes on an undertaking with conditions attached.

Police Release and Bail Both Start From Restraint

Section 493.1 tells every officer, justice and judge to give primary consideration to releasing the accused at the earliest reasonable opportunity, on the least onerous conditions that fit the circumstances and that the person can realistically comply with. Detention is the exception the Crown has to justify, not the starting position.

The Hearing Has to Happen Within 24 Hours

If you are held, section 503 requires that you be taken before a justice within 24 hours where one is available. At that hearing, under section 515, a court can order detention on any of three grounds:

• that you will not come back to court;
• that your release creates a substantial likelihood of another offence, or endangers the public;
• that release would shake public confidence in the administration of justice, judged against the strength of the case and the seriousness of the charge.

Most contested hearings turn on a release plan and a surety, so a family member who can attend is worth arranging in advance. The bail hearing lawyer page sets out how the firm prepares one.

Some Charges Reverse the Onus

For a defined set of situations, including an alleged offence committed while already on release, section 515(6) puts the burden on you to show why detention is not justified. The hearing runs the same way. Only the person who has to persuade the court changes.

The Conditions Bind You Until the Case Ends

Release conditions are enforceable in their own right. Contacting a named person, missing a curfew, or drinking where abstention was ordered creates a separate charge, which is what the breach of conditions page addresses. Conditions can be varied by consent or by application, so tell your lawyer early when one is unworkable. Your next court date is the first appearance.