Do I Have to Agree to Conditions on My Release?

If the police decide to release you instead of keeping you in custody for a bail hearing, they can:

• release you without conditions and serve you later with a summons
• release you without conditions and give you an appearance notice (notice to appear)
• release you on an undertaking with conditions

A summons is a document that requires you to go to court. It will have the location where and date when you must attend court. There will not be any conditions included with a summons. The police will give it to you at some point after you are released. 

An appearance notice is like a summons except that the police will give it to you as soon as you are released.

An undertaking is different because it can include certain conditions. In addition to requiring you to go to court at the time listed, you will have to follow some other rules that the police think are necessary. These could include things like staying at a certain address, staying away from certain people and not drinking alcohol or doing drugs.

Release conditions must be reasonable and necessary. Conditions cannot be imposed for the purpose of punishment. They must be for the purpose of making sure you come back to court, keeping witnesses or victims safe or preventing an offence.

If police include conditions you think are unreasonable or unnecessary, you can ask that they be changed. Conditions can be changed if the Prosecutor agrees. If they do not agree, you can ask to have a bail hearing and let a judge decide what the conditions, if any, should be. 

If you break a condition of your release or if you do not show up in court when you have agreed to or been ordered to, you can be arrested with or without a warrant and you can be charged with another offence (called a "breach"). If you breach a release condition, it is more likely you will be held for a bail hearing in front of a judge. You can read more about that at What Happens at a Bail Hearing.