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| Patrick Ducharme |
Release of the accused is the “fallback position.” Subsection 515(1) provides that the court must order the release of the accused on his undertaking without conditions unless the prosecutor shows cause why the detention of the accused in custody is justified or why an order under any other provision of the subsection should not be made, or, unless a plea of guilty is entered by the accused. The effect of this provision is to create a presumption that the least onerous type of release should be considered first, and the court continues to consider each of the various forms of release until eventually, the final resort is to detain the accused. Detention should only occur if absolutely no form of release is appropriate.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme's book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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