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FOLA troubled by Ontario bail proposals

Oct 28, 2024 Modified: October 28, 2024

For immediate release: October 28, 2024

The Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) shares the concerns of several other leading legal organizations with the provincial government’s desire to eliminate the availability of bail for certain criminal offences.

A criminal charge is not a conviction. Those who are charged with crimes are legally innocent unless and until they are found guilty by a court of law. The province’s position attacks due process and undermines the express language of the Charter, which guarantees the right not to be denied reasonable bail.

Lawyers are officers of the court. We assist it with the testing of evidence, witness credibility, and findings of fact in communities across Ontario every day. We have a front row seat to the police and prosecution’s successes and shortcomings on a regular basis. 

Consequently, as a representative of the provincial bar, we have serious concerns with any criminal justice reforms which presume the suitability and infallibility of law enforcement to serve as investigators, judge, and jury over the liberty of accused persons who have not faced trial.

Questions about police judgement are at the centre of the acquittal of Umar Zameer on murder charges earlier this year. Police accountability is also in the spotlight in cities across Ontario. To suggest that bare and untested investigations by officers ought to be sufficient to incarcerate citizens without due process opens our justice system to abuse, scandal, and targeted exploitation by the state.

FOLA is very concerned to see police associations cheerleading a bid to empower their members to suspend Ontarians’ Charter-protected right to reasonable bail.

About FOLA

FOLA is a non-profit organization that represents Ontario’s 46 county and district law associations, and about 12,000 lawyers. Most of FOLA’s members are sole practitioners or work in small firms across the province.

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Contact:

Douglas W. Judson

Chair, Federation of Ontario Law Associations

Email: info@douglasjudson.ca