THE CRIMINAL COURT PROCESS

The process of going to court and finding the right Canadian defence lawyer to represent you can be very overwhelming.

After you are charged, you are either released from the police station, or you have to go to a bail hearing. Before going to your bail hearing, you should consider consulting a criminal trial lawyer to assist you at the hearing. At the bail hearing, you will either be remanded into custody, given the opportunity to post bail, or someone can agree to sign as a surety for your release.

Once you go to trial with your criminal defence lawyer, your matter will likely return to that court and courtroom for several appearances until your lawyer receives “disclosure”. Disclosure is all of the paperwork that makes up the charges against you. The court will put the case against you on paper and provide it to you or your Canadian defence lawyer. This process of collecting paperwork is lengthy, so be patient and make sure you have an experienced criminal lawyer who uses this waiting period to prepare efficiently.