5. Consider an application for a bail review

To be eligible for a bail review, you must be able to prove that:

• there has been a material change in circumstance, or
• an error of law was made during your original bail hearing.

A material change in circumstance is a major change in your life that affects your bail plan. For example:

• a change in your work or living conditions
• a new person willing to act as a surety

Prepare your application for bail review

Your application for bail review must include a Notice of Application. The Notice of Application is a document that explains why your request should be approved.

You must also include:

• transcripts of your original bail hearing
• affidavits from you and your surety 

Transcripts

To order transcripts of your bail hearing, contact the court reporters at the courthouse where your original bail hearing was held. Transcripts cost a lot of money. It may take a week or more to get your transcripts and you will have to pay for them when you pick them up.

Bring the following information when you order your transcripts:

• the date of your original bail hearing
• the name of the justice of the peace at your bail hearing
• the courtroom and courthouse where your bail hearing was held

Affidavits

Once you have the transcripts of your original bail hearing, you must prepare affidavits to go with your application. The affidavits explain how your circumstances have changed, and the proposed changes to your bail.

Your lawyer can help you prepare the affidavits. You will need affidavits from yourself and your sureties. The affidavits must be commissioned. That means that you swear under oath in front of a commissioner of oaths that the affidavits are true.  

Schedule a hearing date

Your Notice of Application will say when you would like to have your hearing. You must give the Crown your Notice of Application and the other materials in your application at least 2 days before that date.

After they get your application, the Crown will review your request. They may agree to change your conditions after reviewing the application. 

If the Crown doesn’t agree to the changes you want, you will have a hearing with a judge in the Superior Court of Justice. Your lawyer will ask the judge to make an order that your conditions be changed.

The judge will decide whether:

• you’re eligible for a bail review
• your proposed changes are acceptable to the court