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In an attempt to clear the high number of cases currently awaiting trial in the Ontario Courts, the government has created a new guilty plea certificate system that incentivizes those accused to plead guilty by providing legal representation for a guilty plea. ...
For many members of the public, the legal system may seem monolithic. Popular culture doesn’t always do a good job of distinguishing between the different kinds of law. We generally understand that there are judges, lawyers, and juries - and for many, that’s as far as...
A Gardiner Hearing is when evidence is called during sentencing after an accused person has entered a guilty plea to outstanding charges, or in very rare instances has been found guilty after a trial. During a Gardiner Hearing evidence is presented to the Judge on...
The OCJ is adjourning all criminal matters as a result of the COVID-19 precautions. Starting Monday, March 16, 2020, the Ontario Court of Justice suspended the regular daily operations of all trial courts. All scheduled trials, set-date appearances, scheduled...
Gun buy-back and amnesty programs allow people to surrender firearms to police safely. Most firearms used in street-level crimes are bought or stolen from Canadian homes. So these programs are aimed at reducing firearms offences in Toronto communities. During these...
In Canada, sentencing is not an exact process, it is fact-driven and highly individualized. Sentencing is not a strictly codified and regimented process with pre-determined set punishments. In short, sentencing can be considered more of an Art rather than a Science....
This past year, the media has been drawing attention to the frequency of ORB inmates escaping from CamH Custody. The highest-profile of these being the escape of Zhebin Cong, “The Meat Cleaver Killer.” Zhebin Cong made headlines back in 2008 after beheading a...
A verbal threat can get you in trouble, even if you didn’t mean it. It is a criminal offence, referred to as an utter threat. Given that utter threat is a hybrid offence, if the Crown chooses to proceed by indictment a person convicted of this offence can face a...
You’re relaxing in your home when you receive a call from the police. The officer on the line informs you that the police want to interview you for a criminal investigation, that they want to ask a few questions, or maybe even tell you that they want your side of the...
Losing your visa if you get arrested in Canada can affect a large group of people. At any given time, people staying in Canada on visas make up a significant amount of people in the country. In the 5 years since Canada began the 10-year visa program, over 3 million...
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Ontario courts take the crime of assault very seriously, but many people misunderstand the term. Often, the word assault is taken to mean that one person did something to hurt another person, but this isn’t exactly the case. In this post we’ll define the term assault according to the Criminal Code...
Many individuals facing criminal charges have questions about alternate methods of making up for the harm caused by their alleged crime instead of a prison sentence. In this post, we’ll examine what is meant by diversion, go through the diversion procedures and discuss who is eligible and what is...
If you are visiting Canada from another country, chances are you are hoping to see some natural beauty and visit some friendly cities. But what happens when your travel plans turn out unexpectedly and you find yourself arrested while travelling? In this post, we’ll look at what to do if you are...