A local lawyer calls proposed Criminal Code amendments targeting bail for certain offenders “significant.”

Proposed amendments intended to make getting bail tougher for repeat violent offenders have been highly politicized of late.

Critics, including the federal Opposition Conservatives, say the new amendments do little to prevent violent repeat offenders from being released and committing more crimes.

Solicitor with the Special Defense Unit of the NL Legal Aid Commission, Mark Gruchy, says the reverse onus conditions for those charged with a violent offence involving a weapon and who have a previous conviction, will make getting bail tougher.

He says most of the time, a person goes into a bail process and the Crown has to prove why that person should be held. “I would suggest the Crown tends to consent release then because normally they cannot prove why they should be held.” In reverse onus, the accused must prove why they should be released. “In practice, if you have to prove why you should be released, you are more likely to be denied bail.”