First Steps After Being Charged with a Criminal Offence: Case Management Courts
By Ryan Conway, Summer Student
After you are accused of a crime, your first instinct is likely to dispute the charge immediately or plead guilty and resolve the charge as soon as possible. However, there are many intermediate steps that you must take before you will be able to go to trial or enter a guilty plea. These steps may include retaining a lawyer privately or with a Legal Aid Certificate, requesting and reviewing disclosure, and conducting various pre-trial hearings or conferences.
These intermediary steps can be time-consuming and potentially conflict with your Charter right to have a trial within a reasonable period of time and with the economical use of court resources.
To ensure that criminal charges proceed in a timely manner and are not unreasonably delayed, Ontario has instituted virtual Case Management courts. These courts do not handle preliminary hearings, guilty pleas, trials or sentencing hearings. Rather, Case Management court appearances are administrative in nature and include a “first appearance”, “to be spoken to” appearances” and “to set a date” appearances. These appearances are entirely separate from court appearances that assess the substantive charges and the merits of the Crown’s case.
Criminal case management appearances are mandatory, and they require accused persons (or their counsel) to attend court before a Judge or Justice of the Peace and provide regular updates on the progress of their matters.
At your first appearance, the court will likely ask you if you intend on retaining a lawyer or if you are going to represent yourself.
If you intend on retaining a lawyer, you can do so privately or with a Legal Aid Certificate. You can contact lawyers directly to retain them privately or to ask whether they accept Legal Aid Certificates. You can also contact Legal Aid directly for assistance in obtaining a Certificate and in finding a lawyer. In-court Duty Counsel may also be able to assist you in contacting legal aid.
If you do not retain a lawyer, you will be responsible for attending court and moving your matter forward.
Attending Case Management Court with a Lawyer
If you retain a lawyer, your lawyer will likely be able to attend court without you being present. You can still attend court with your lawyer if you wish.
It is always important to confirm with your lawyer whether or not you need to attend court as the court may require your presence for certain stages.
Attending Case Management Court without a Lawyer
If you have a case management appearance before you are able to retain a lawyer or if you decide not to retain a lawyer, you must attend your appearance and address the court yourself.
The next blog posts will provide some general tips for attending virtual Case Management court. You can also contact your lawyer or Duty Counsel for assistance in attending court and taking appropriate steps to move your matter forward, or call our office with any questions.