Liberals’ bail reforms may see Charter challenges, limited results: experts
Global News
The bill aims to make it harder for some repeat violent offenders to seek pretrial release by putting the onus on them to prove why they should be granted bail.
Experts say a Liberal bail reform bill introduced this week could be subject to a Charter challenge and see limited results.
The bill aims to make it harder for some repeat violent offenders to seek pretrial release by putting the onus on them to prove why they should be granted bail.
Danardo Jones, an assistant professor at the University of Windsor’s law school, says he isn’t sure the bill would hold up under legal scrutiny. The Supreme Court has cautioned governments before on any expansion of what are known as reverse-onus measures.
“It’s making a lot of changes that I’m not certain will pass constitutional muster,” he said.
The legislation would introduce reverse-onus bail conditions for people charged with serious violent offences involving a weapon, in cases where the person was convicted of a similar violent offence within the past five years.
It would also add some firearms offences to existing reverse-onus provisions, and expand their use in cases where the alleged crimes involve intimate partner violence.
Prosecutors in such cases would no longer have to prove to judges why offenders should stay behind bars.
Justice Minister David Lametti had promised that any new law would abide by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees that anyone who is charged with a crime will not be denied reasonable bail without just cause.