Ontario's new cash bail system faces constitutional challenge
Ontario's new cash bail requirements are facing a constitutional challenge from civil liberties and legal advocacy groups. Critics argue the policy creates a two-tiered justice system that unfairly penalizes financially disadvantaged individuals.
Why it matters
The case highlights the ongoing tension between public safety initiatives and the constitutional rights of the accused in the Canadian legal system.
Ontario’s new rules that require cash up front as part of being released on bail have been hit with a constitutional challenge on the same day they came into force.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers Association argue in a written file that it’s the federal government, not Ontario, that has power over the bail system, and the province’s new rules would create a two-tiered system for the rich and the poor.
“The cash bail provisions present an immediate risk to the rights of accused persons across Ontario to obtain bail, particularly for those who are financially disadvantaged,” the filing says.
Those who can’t afford to pay will spend time in jail while those who can afford to pay will get out of jail more quickly, which is against provisions in Canada’s Charter of Rights to not have bail denied without a valid, just cause.
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