Civil liberties experts warn it may infringe on constitutionally protected rights
British Columbia’s updated policy on bail, aimed at keeping dangerous offenders off the street, is raising the concern of legal and civil liberties experts who say it upends the Charter-protected presumption of innocence and can lead to wrongful convictions.
“The policy is saying we should lock people up even if they wouldn’t go to jail if they were convicted,” he said. “That is a huge problem.” “Premier Eby’s new bail directive will exacerbate the systemic racism in our justice system against Indigenous people without making us safer and cost taxpayers more money without addressing the underlying issues of criminality.”
“If your sentence is going to be 30 days for theft or smashing a window or something, and you spend a week in custody and you’re getting two-to-one credits, you’re already getting 14 days. You may as well just plead guilty to another two weeks and you’re done,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re waiting in custody for six months for your trial.”
Dan McLaughlin, communications counsel for the BC Prosecution Service, said the service sought to identify and implement amendments to its bail policy that could, to the fullest extent possible under the law, address the public-safety risks that repeat violent offenders pose, as ordered by the attorney-general.
“It is too soon to say whether or to what extent the attorney-general’s directive, and the policy changes we have been compelled to make in response, will further aggravate these regrettable features of the criminal justice system.”
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