Bail in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 refers to the release (or detention

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

) of a person charged with a criminal offence

Criminal law in Canada

The criminal law of Canada is under the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the federal government. The power to enact criminal law is derived from section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867...

 prior to being sentenced

Sentence (law)

In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...

. A person may be released by a peace officer or by the courts

Court system of Canada

The court system of Canada is made up of many courts differing in levels of legal superiority and separated by jurisdiction. Some of the courts are federal in nature while others are provincial or territorial....

. A release on bail

Bail

Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...

 by the courts is officially known as a judicial interim release. There are also a number of ways to compel a person's appearance in court without the need for an arrest

Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...

 and release. The Canadian constitution guarantees the right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause.