Judicial interim release hearings.

• Author: Fugeman-Millar, Andrea
• Position: Feature on Youth Justice

When a young person is arrested in accordance with the procedures in the Youth Criminal Justice Act (the YCJA) and held by the police, the next big step is the Judicial Interim Release Hearing, commonly, though inaccurately, known as the "bail hearing." The YCJA states" that a young person must be brought before a Provincial Court Judge or Justice without delay." s.31 (6) YCJA. The accused young person is moving from the police system into the judicial system. This ensures that the constitutional rights of the young person are protected even though the young person may not know what those rights are and the importance of them in criminal law.

The young person is brought before the Presiding Justice of the Peace either in person in the courtroom or by telephone hearing, or the young person is brought before the Provincial Youth Justice Court Judge in court. The young person is escorted by the police at this time and the Judge or Justice of the Peace is present and either the Crown prosecutor or a police officer, as an agent of the Crown, is present to state the position of the Crown prosecutor.

The purpose of the judicial interim release hearing is threefold:

* to ensure that the young person understands important constitutional and legislative rights;

* to determine whether the young person should be released or detained while waiting to go to court to face the charges on which the young person has been arrested; and

* to set a court date for the appearance of the young person to make a plea of innocence or guilt with respect to the charges.

Ensuring Rights

The judge or justice of the court must ensure that in this hearing the young person understands rights that are very important to the conduct of our justice system in accordance with s.32 of the YCJA. The young person has a right to have a hearing in French or English since Canada's judicial system is officially bilingual. The young person has the right to know the charges that must be faced, therefore, the charges are read out loud to the young person. The young person has a right to have a responsible person or a guardian or parent present to help them. The prosecutor must present the court with evidence that the parent or guardian of the young person has been contacted, or that serious attempts have been made to contact the adult, before the hearing proceeds. And of course, the young person needs to be informed of their right to speak to a lawyer to obtain some legal advice and to...