Surety (Canadian criminal law)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Surety in Canadian law is applied to a person approved by the bail judge to supervise and be responsible for a person charged with an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada. A surety is an obligation under the law, and sureties may be asked to inform the court on events that violate bail conditions. A person arrested and charged with a criminal code violation must appear before a judge within seventy-two hours for a bail hearing, unless the person, their attorney, and the court mutually agree to delay the proceeding.
The respondent under law can have but one bail hearing, thus they may wish to delay the proceeding, and remain in custody, to allow their lawyer to find a suitable surety. The surety must swear to the court in writing, by signing Recognizance of Bail papers that they will guarantee the accused's return to court when required, and that the accused abides by conditions set out by the court. The judge will fine a surety, if the accused fails to appear when scheduled. If the person on bail fails to appear, or violates recognizance, a warrant for their arrest will be issued. The surety will be fined, but face no criminal charge, although they may be precluded from acting as surety in the future.
A person with no suitable surety, ultimately the Crown Attorney and the defense lawyer or Duty counsel decide who is a suitable surety, will have to remain in custody until they plead guilty or come to trial, a prospect in many Canadian jurisdictions that may result in as much as a year in detention because of case backlogs.
[edit] External links
- Jurist.ca is a Canadian legal information website hosted by the University of Toronto, surety is defined among other terms.
