Justice of the Peace Lauzon has bravely opined that bail courts “have devolved into dysfunctional and punitive bodies. “The Canadian bail system has effectively been a pretrial punitive regime that’s inconsistent with the presumption of innocence and Charter protection. Sometimes those in custody must choose between fighting a bail hearing or agreeing to onerous conditions. They live with those conditions for months until trial and can end up with charges after breaching the conditions, which might not have been necessary in the first place. The police can release more people; the Crown attorneys cannot press for sureties and conditions to the extent that they probably do now. If bail is going to be set by justices of the peace, they have to be legally trained, as is required in Alberta.”
