{"id":15594,"date":"2018-09-26T14:07:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T14:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594"},"modified":"2018-09-26T14:07:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T14:07:42","slug":"peace-bond-in-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594","title":{"rendered":"Peace Bonds in Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peace Bonds in Ontario: How Do They Work?<\/h1>\n

The main thing most people know about the conviction process in North America (or anywhere else for that matter) is that it involves a trial. Ask anyone on the street what a criminal procedure might look like, and their answer will likely be informed by what they\u2019ve seen in film and TV: a courtroom, a judge, lawyers, a defendant and a plaintiff. In the end, someone is found guilty or not guilty.<\/p>\n

\"Peace<\/p>\n

That black-and-white verdict is what the vast majority of people would expect as the result of a trial. Dramatic results in high-profile cases involving celebrities often become social flashpoints, with people taking sides, giving their opinion on social media and even organizing protests.<\/p>\n

The 2016 trial of CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi is an example of such a high-profile case. Most people who were following that case would know that Ghomeshi was acquitted of the charges of sexual assault and choking \u2013 that is, he was found not guilty by the court. The main reason for this was that the judge simply didn\u2019t believe the testimony of the women who came forward.<\/p>\n

However, with respect to one of those charges (involving the complainant Kathryn Borel), a different outcome was achieved: Ghomeshi signed a peace bond. This is a lesser-known result of a trial in Canada, which shows that the trial process is not always as clear cut as guilty vs. not guilty.<\/p>\n

What is a Peace Bond?<\/h2>\n

In Canada, a peace bond<\/a> is a response to a charge that involves a contract for good behaviour. In the US, the closest thing to a peace bond would be a restraining order. A peace bond is not an admission of guilt \u2013 nor is it a \u201cpunishment\u201d for an offense. It\u2019s simply a way to resolve a case that has no solid evidence either way. It\u2019s commonly used in domestic disputes and sexual assault cases.<\/p>\n

Who Decides the Peace Bond?<\/h2>\n

The court will decide to offer a peace bond to the person charged when it believes that a standard trial would not be resolved in a satisfactory way. In some cases, a defendant may seek to apply for a peace bond either with the help of a lawyer or through the assistance of the police.<\/p>\n

When are Peace Bonds Offered?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Courts generally do not offer peace bonds when they know they have a solid case against the defendant. In cases where there may be not enough evidence, or when trying to seek a regular trial won\u2019t likely achieve any kind of resolution for those involved, a peace bond might come into the picture.<\/p>\n

What Does a Peace Bond Involve?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A peace bond is essentially a contract that lays out a specific type of behaviour which the person must adhere to or refrain from, such as avoiding certain places, not consuming alcohol, or avoiding contact with a specific person. The duration of a peace bond can vary but the maximum length is one year.<\/p>\n

If a person breaks the conditions of a peace bond, new charges such as disobeying a court order may be made. These charges are considered criminal offences, so in addition to a fine, a defendant may also face a jail sentence of up to four years.<\/p>\n

As long as the individual adheres to the terms of the bond they signed for the stated time period, the charges laid against them are withdrawn. As you may have read, Ghomeshi\u2019s peace bond<\/a> also involved an apology to Ms. Borel. This is not an admission of guilt in the legal sense.<\/p>\n

Resolving a case in this manner is often desirable for the complainant, especially in cases which involve domestic disputes. In a social sense, Ghomeshi has admitted to and apologized for wrongdoing against Ms. Borel. Note that the other women who accused Ghomeshi did not receive such an apology, and some of them have publicly indicated that they would have liked to receive one.<\/p>\n

What Happens After a Peace Bond?<\/h2>\n

After the peace bond ends, charges are withdrawn. In a sense, receiving and signing a peace bond means that the trial was cancelled \u2013 there was no trial and no result of \u201cguilty\u201d or \u201cnot guilty.\u201d However, records of an arrest and charges will still appear on your record.<\/p>\n

Lingering Concerns from a Peace Bond<\/h2>\n

A peace bond allows the defendant to avoid a conviction, but that does not mean that their criminal record is now totally clean. A background check will show that an arrest was made, and charges were laid against them. There won\u2019t be a conviction or pending charges on the record, but it will show that there was a charge and arrest.\u00a0\u00a0This can still be a huge obstacle to securing employment, volunteering, or crossing the border into the US.<\/p>\n

There is hope, however. After a set period of time has elapsed from the end of the peace bond, one can apply to have all records leading up to the peace bond deleted from the Canadian Police Information Centre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peace Bonds in Ontario: How Do They Work? The main thing most people know about the conviction process in North America (or anywhere else for that matter) is that it involves a trial. Ask anyone on the street what a criminal procedure might look like, and their answer will likely be informed by what they\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,10,109,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-common-charges","category-criminal-records","category-criminal-sentencing","category-pardon"],"yoast_head":"\nPeace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"staging.nationalpardon.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"National Pardon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"National Pardon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"National Pardon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba\"},\"headline\":\"Peace Bonds in Ontario\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Common Charges\",\"Criminal Records\",\"Criminal Sentencing\",\"Pardon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594\",\"name\":\"Peace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba\"},\"description\":\"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?p=15594#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peace Bonds in Ontario\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"staging.nationalpardon.org\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba\",\"name\":\"National Pardon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"National Pardon\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.nationalpardon.org\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Peace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?","description":"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Peace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?","og_description":"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594","og_site_name":"staging.nationalpardon.org","article_published_time":"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00","author":"National Pardon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"National Pardon","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594"},"author":{"name":"National Pardon","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba"},"headline":"Peace Bonds in Ontario","datePublished":"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594"},"wordCount":847,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Common Charges","Criminal Records","Criminal Sentencing","Pardon"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594","url":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594","name":"Peace Bond in Ontario - What is it & How to get it?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2018-09-26T14:07:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba"},"description":"Reviewing peace bonds in Ontario, Canada. What happens during a peace a peace bond? What is the result of a peace bond? Is a peace bond desirable?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=15594#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Peace Bonds in Ontario"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/","name":"staging.nationalpardon.org","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8875ab66fc730533e59e05d71b75ba","name":"National Pardon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d55e3ad3ac775d0424d0fabd5ee073c9b71cd7bd352610bb4cc4ff574dc748fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"National Pardon"},"url":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}