{"id":1100,"date":"2023-01-17T12:02:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prisonbeat.com\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2023-01-17T12:02:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:02:17","slug":"what-is-a-surety-and-who-can-be-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/uncategorized\/what-is-a-surety-and-who-can-be-one\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Surety and who can be one?"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE:<\/strong> This is a personal blog, any views or opinions represented in this blog belong solely to the CIFFConsulting Team. \u201cWE ARE NOT Psychologists or Therapy Professionals,\u201d all data and information on these blogs is for informational purposes ONLY. In the comments section we are hoping that people can outline their experiences and foster communication that will assist others going through similar events.<\/p>\n

What is a surety?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A surety is responsible to ensure that the accused attends court as required until the case is over. He or she is also responsible to ensure that the accused abides by the conditions of his release, including any reporting, curfew, and non-contact clauses. The surety is the \u201cjailer\u201d of the accused as he or she must provide some measure of supervision over the accused\u2019s daily activities. He or she should maintain daily contact with the accused.<\/p>\n

Criteria of surety\u2019s suitability<\/strong>
\nThe following persons would not be acceptable:
\n\u2022 co-accused
\n\u2022 a minor
\n\u2022 a person who is already surety for another person
\n\u2022 counsel for the accused
\n\u2022 a non-resident of the province
\n\u2022 victim of the accused such as spouse who is complainant in a domestic assault.<\/p>\n

Because the surety is expected to supervise the accused, he or she should be someone who is able to do so. Relevant factors are how long he or she has known the accused, whether they are related, how frequently they see each other and how close they live to each other.
\nIt is best that the surety have no criminal record. A conviction for a serious offence or one related to the administration of justice, such as for breach of a court order, could render the surety unsuitable. He or she may not be considered suitable if he or she is awaiting trial on a criminal offence.
\nThe surety must have sufficient funds or personal assets in Ontario (i.e., the province where the accused stands charged) to cover the recognizance, that is, the amount of the bail. He or she should attend court with proof of his or her ability to do so (e.g., bankbooks, proof of property ownership), and photo ID, such as driver\u2019s licence or passport. If bringing a bankbook, make sure it\u2019s updated. It is a criminal offence to accept payment to act as a surety. Offering such payment is also an offence.<\/p>\n

Ceasing to act as surety.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A surety who has a change of heart, disapproves of the accused\u2019s conduct on release, fears the accused may abscond, or for any other reason, may apply to a judge or justice of the peace to be relieved of his or her obligations. The surety does not have to give a reason; his or her right to be relieved of his or her obligations is unconditional. If this occurs, the accused must return to custody and reapply for release; he may be able to avoid returning to custody if a judge or justice of the peace accepts a new surety in place of the old one.<\/p>\n

Forfeiture of bail.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the accused breaches his bail conditions, the Crown can go after his surety for the money acknowledged to be owed to the Crown in the recognizance. This procedure is called retreatment of bail. A forfeiture hearing is held where the surety has an opportunity to establish why the recognizance should not be forfeited.
\nIf the surety has taken all reasonable steps to ensure the accused keep his conditions, he or she may avoid penalty. Such steps include informing authorities immediately if the accused absconds or when the apprehension of absconding arises. If the surety made some, though insufficient, effort to discharge his or her obligations, he or she may be ordered to pay an amount less than the full recognizance.
\nThe Crown need not establish a link between the lack of due diligence by the surety and the breach of conditions of a recognizance by an accused.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A surety is any person or group of people who takes on the role of being responsible for an accused while he\/she is on bail. Not everyone can be a surety. a surety must meet some specific criteria. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prisonpulse.ca\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}