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The Ontario Superior Court building in Toronto. Justice William Chalmers granted an injunction in a case challenging the constitutional validity of the province’s cash bail rules.Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press
The Ontario Superior Court on Monday put the province’s cash bail system on hold as it granted an injunction in a case challenging the constitutional validity of the new rules.
Justice William Chalmers of the Ontario Superior Court found cash bail may result in people accused of crimes who normally would be released on bail ahead of trial “having their release denied or delayed.”
In a seven-page ruling Monday, he wrote that there was a “greater risk of harm if the injunction is not granted.”
The Ontario government in mid-August instituted the widespread use of cash bail in the province. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association thereafter launched a legal challenge to strike down the new rules.
The case was heard last Thursday by Justice Chalmers.
The two legal groups also sought an injunction pending a final ruling from Justice Chalmers.
More to come